How long can a seller hold your funds?

[Redbudlover]

Hi, everyone, I have been trying to buy a resale contract for 100 pts at VWL. The sellers are really dragging their feet and I am wondering about backing out of the deal, but don't want to lose my deposit. How much time do sellers have before they have to sign paperwork after a buyer sends full payment for a contract? How long before a buyer can ask to have funds released from escrow? My original deposit was received Sept. 16 and Disney waived Oct. 8.... I wire transferred funds to the Closing Company the next day and hoped for a speedy closing. The sellers have yet to return all the closing documents so we can set a closing date. I am frustrated because my money has been tied up for almost a month now with nothing to show for it including the interest I had been earning on it and can still not use the points to make a ressie. I still want the points and so know I should just wait, but I am so irritated now I would just as soon walk away and buy through Disney... So the question is how long can the sellers hold this up before I am free to walk away without penalty?

[Deb & Bill]

You need to discuss this with the agent who is processing the sale for you. You could have bought a different one in the time it has taken you to get this far.

I wonder if they have a trip planned and want to go on the trip before they close on the sale. Any existing reservations are cancelled at the time you close.

[Redbudlover]

I have wondered the same thing. They are supposed to disclose that when they offer the contract for sale. I have been emailing the agent and he keeps saying the sellers are getting together to sign and notarize the paperwork, but this is getting out of hand. I asked him a couple of days ago about how much time they have and this time he has not emailed me back. I bought two other contracts through him and didn't have this trouble.

[Redbudlover]

I just heard back from the agent that he is trying to reach the closing company rep to see if she has closed the file. He did tell me though that he can cancel the contract 30 days after Disney provides estoppel if the seller's documents have not been received by the closing company. Today is the 28th day which makes Saturday the 30th. It is good to know my money can't be held indefinitely. Now I just need to decide whether to try resale again or go through Disney...

[dianeschlicht]

Originally Posted by Redbudlover

I just heard back from the agent that he is trying to reach the closing company rep to see if she has closed the file. He did tell me though that he can cancel the contract 30 days after Disney provides estoppel if the seller's documents have not been received by the closing company. Today is the 28th day which makes Saturday the 30th. It is good to know my money can't be held indefinitely. Now I just need to decide whether to try resale again or go through Disney...

Frankly, given how long it has taken already, if this doesn't happen, I'd probably go through Disney and have your points as soon as you put down a deposit and sign on the dotted line.

[wdwnut]

Is the seller overseas? I attempted to buy a resale with the seller based in the UK, and he was taking a long time to return the final paperwork. I spoke with the rep from the title company and was told it is much harder to find a notary in Europe and they also charged something like $ 300 to notarize documents. I finally asked TTS to cancel the contract. I found another resale within a few days and made sure the seller was in the US. We closed about 3-1/2 weeks later.

[sorcamc]

That stinks! It sounds like you have the info you need now, but I just wanted to say sorry! We bought from a UK seller..just closed today, and offer to closing was 30 days...we found out we passed ROFR last Wed, got closing docs Thurs, I found out the seller had an appt to notorize yesterday and they overnighted the papers. Good luck!

[Redbudlover]

As far as I know the seller is here in the states. I really think it stinks, too. I got a good price with 100 extra points, but I would get the extra points with Disney as well since I have a Mar use year. The only thing is I was hoping to get VWL since that is a resort hard to reserve and if I buy from Disney I will probably buy either BLT or AKL. I am just so upset about this.

[disneynutz]

Put the pressure on the Broker that you went through. It's their job to act on your behalf.

Bill

[Dean]

The contract should list a closing date and any grace period, usually 30 days. This sounds a little fishy, if not completed immediately, I'd send a cancelation and move on.

[helenk]

What does your contract state?
I just put in a bid for a re-sale on 50 pts for VWL. My contract indicates a closed on or before date, unless extended by the title company for administrative reasons. There is also a date where my deposit would be refunded to me if the Seller does not execute the the contract by a certain date.

[LisaS]

When I purchased my resale contract, there was something in my paperwork where if the sale had not closed by a particular date I could back out with a full refund. I'm not sure which document contained that information. Take a look at whatever paperwork you have up to this point and see if it mentions something like that, just so you know whether you have something in writing that protects you in the event the sellers continue to drag this out.

[dianeschlicht]

Originally Posted by Redbudlover

As far as I know the seller is here in the states. I really think it stinks, too. I got a good price with 100 extra points, but I would get the extra points with Disney as well since I have a Mar use year. The only thing is I was hoping to get VWL since that is a resort hard to reserve and if I buy from Disney I will probably buy either BLT or AKL. I am just so upset about this.

Just so you know, you should be able to buy VWL direct from your guide too. They always make it sound like they only have the new ones, but in fact, they do have points from the other resorts and sell them routinely. They get back points from ROFR all the time, so you should be able to go through Disney.

[Redbudlover]

Thanks everyone for your advice and help

I was wondering about buying VWLfrom Disney but thought I might be back to being on a waitlist for points. I am pretty tired of waiting on this. I learned yesterday that the seller has another contract with the closing company that is also being held up on closing because of documents as well. My agent finally reached the sellers telling them I was ready to back out. He was then told they had expressed sent them the day before and they should be in by Friday or Saturday - strikes me that overnight mail doesn't take 3 days. Well we will see. It turns out estoppel is when Disney provides all the information to the closing company about the mortgage and fees, not the waiver. So the 30 days isn't until the 11th. We will see if they actually did send them - all of them - after all.

[backyardponder]

I had a similar situation when I bought BWV resale. It turned out it was a divorce situation and they couldn't even get their act together enough to get their paperwork notarized. I read my contract, called my broker, and told my broker that if they didn't meet the dates in the contract I was cancelling. Lo and behold, they met the dates.

This is one risk of buying resale. If this doesn't work out for you, try again. For older resorts, like VWL, it is the best way to go. Make sure you work with one of the several brokers who specialize in DVC.

Good Luck.