Can someone tell me what may be going on with my closing.?

Question

I had a closing date for September 5th. Since then the sellers have been delaying the closing non-stop. They are going through a very nasty divorce and cant figure out who is getting what money. In the meantime I already registered my daughter in the new school. She hasnt even started becasue we live an hour away. my attorney just sent them a "time is of the essence" letter so hopefully we will close soon and I can get my daughter back into school but Does anyone know why this is affecting the sale. I have never bought a house or gone through a dirvorce so I'm not to familiar with this. Why cant we just do the closing and put the money in some sort of escrow. Then I can move in and they can deal with it withought stringing me along. I know they both have other places to live.

Answer 1

It would be nice to just close and put the money in an escrow without stringing you along. Unfortunately that isn't the way it works. I know because I have sold homes before. When you are buying a home and borrowing money, some of that money goes to pay the balance of the seller's loan. The remainder of that balance will then be issued to the seller in the form of a check or direct-deposited into their personal bank account. Since they are divorcing and don't know who gets the money, it's unclear what to do with a remaining balance after paying their loan on the home. The escrow company doesn't know who to disburse the funds to. When you sign your papers and close on the home, you are also closing that escrow account. With money still there and no where for the money to go, you can't close escrow. Escrow serves as the third party between the buyer and the seller in the handling of funds and transfer of funds. I hope this makes sense.

Answer 2

The sellers are being jerks, and letting their personal problems affect YOUR life and your daughter's life. With luck, the letter from your lawyer will get things moving.

Good luck.