Can I sue seller's agent for lying to my buyer's agent about property?

Question

We entered contract on a property about 90 days ago and were to close last Wednesday. We have performed as buyer up to and including signing/wiring funds to escrow. However, seller is failing to perform in that some vandalism occurred to the property and they have not taken action to repair it in over 8 weeks.

Furthermore, the listing agent has committed the following actions which I believe are unethical:

- Failed to promptly disclose the vandalism. He found out on a Monday but did not tell our agent until Friday, one hour before the end of our due diligence period. This prevented us from making a reasoned decision about whether to back out of the deal without forfeiting our EMD.

- Lied to our agent about the status of repairs. Reported repairs in progress (but they weren't). Claimed repairs would be done by closing (but they hadn't even authorized a contractor to do work). We're in indefinite limbo here.

Anything we can sue this lying agent for?

Answer 1

The agent you need to sue...IS YOUR OWN.

Listing agents do not make daily trips to the property. That is not expected, nor is it reasonable. If a property is vacant, there is no way that a listing agent can know if it has been vandalized, NOR IS LEGALLY EXPECTED to know.

The day you learned that there was vandalism to the property, you and your agent should have been out there to inspect it yourself.

Then a CONTRACT ADDENDUM should have been written by YOUR AGENT (because now the property is NOT in the same condition as it was before), specifically stipulating the repairs, and damand that they be FIXED within so many days....you present this to the LISTING AGENT, who presents it to the sellers, and you give them 24 HOURS to sign or let you loose from the contract.

Your agent keeps playing the blame game and is not representing your interests. That is what contract addendums are for...and it's your own agen'ts fault for being too lazy to write one and not following up on it.

YOUR AGENT is responsble for NEVER taking the word of the sellers nor the listing agent, but GETTING UP OFF HIS/HER BUTT and driving over to the house to check to see if what they were claiming is true.

I would have been OVER AND DONE with that contract in two weeks tops...as soon as a deadline was set and missed, I would have ADVISED you that you can either WRITE ANOTHER ONE or walk away...and if you still wanted the house then that is YOUR CHOICE.

That is the problem you have...no contract addendum in place to condition as to how the repairs are completed.

Call the broker in charge of YOUR agent's firm, and GET ANOTHER ONE.

Answer 2

You are lawsuit happy. If you really insist, you can bring suit against anyone, but you won't get anywhere on THIS one. You are always entitled to back out of this deal without losing your earnest money if the condition of the property is not substantially the same as when you viewed it due to vandalism damage, storm damage, or other issues.

Are you certain your buyer's agent is giving you good advice here ?

Furthermore, if you still want to purchase the house, have YOUR agent advise that the closing will include an escrow amount for about 150% of the estimated costs of the repairs, and that such monies will not be released until appropriate repairs are completed.

This situation is nowhere near as horrid as you make it seem to appear. I'm starting to think your buyer's agent is the weenie in this whole scenario.

Answer 3

Daniel,Call the agents Broker and see if the broker can get the ball rolling again.It could be that the agent is over whelmed and does not know what to do.It is possible his broker may not know the current problem exists.Your agent should of done a final walk through with you right before closeing.If the transaction has closed and you feel the seller owes you,you should consult a attorney to possibly sue the seller.Your agent should of checked up on repairs and it should not have closed escrow till all contractural repairs were maid.It is better to solve disputes with out a attorney if possible.

Answer 4

Lies told in private can be very difficult to prove, particularly when both agents are equally motivated to keep the deal going.

A court might believe either agent, or neither.
Now if the property is not as seen on closing date, you may be best advised to put forward a proposal to have some of the down payment applied to repairs, assuming it is large enough.

But if your DP is small enough to make that a problem, do you go for the mortgage lender to divert some of the mortgage money to repairs, subtract it from amounts payable to vendor?

Unless your contract specifies that you can back out in event of damage, you may not be able to. Ordinarily it would give you a claim against the vendor for repair costs but no right to withdraw.

Answer 5

Well the first thing you should do is try to resolve the issue instead of going for a law suit since they will take forever and you'll just be in limbo alot longer.

The first thing you should do is contact your realtor and have them contact the selling realtors manager. If that doesn't solve your problem, then contact your realtors manager. If that still doesn't solve the problem, then contact the real estate board and the real estate council for your location, yourself. Usually this will solve most problems as realtors and real estate companys hate any type of poor public relations or disiplinary action from these organizations. Then if nothing is solved, then contact a lawyer and procede with a law suit.

Answer 6

1) report this to the broker that holds the license of that agent.
2) You could use this to get a concession at closing, talk to your agent about this. Inform the seller that you will want a concession that is MUCH higher than the cost if they did it for you. Remember its not just cost to repair to you, its yout time in being able to "enjoy" your purchase or "real property".

Answer 7

Can't you get an allowance escrow for the repairs and see to it they are done yourself? Then your sale would not be delayed. I think that's what your agent should have advised in the first place.

Answer 8

You can't sue anyone. Your buyer has to sue because they are the ones affected, not you.

Did you use an attorney in this transaction??
If so contact the attorney and have them ask for an extension or do whatever they need to do..