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[C.Ann]

...........

 

[golfgal]

Yes they can pull out this late in the game but your DD might have some legal recourse if they do depending on the laws in your state. Also, if they are having a professional moving company move them, they might not be making any preparations to move since the moving company will do all that for them.

Technically your DD takes possession at closing unless there have been other terms stipulated and yes, they technically own what is ever left. In our current house we were planning on doing some major updating before we moved in and wanted to start right after closing. We drove over to the house and the previous owners were not quite out yet. They had lived here for 35 years and were moving out of town and were having a hard time saying goodbye to the house. They walked around the house with us showing us what was what, etc. It was nice but we were on a schedule. They were finally gone by about 5:00, the closing was done at 1:00. The funny part was we made the offer and it was accepted in December, we wanted to move in February but they go south for the winter and wanted to wait until April. They had 4 months to get everything out and they weren't really even living there, they have summer lake home too.

 

[golfgal]

Another idea, your DD might want to have the RE agent send over a letter stating they are to be out no later then what ever time the closing starts and if they are not out all possessions still in the house become the property of the new owners. That might get them moving.

 

[sajetto]

I'm no expert and realtors handle all of our buisness, but possession usually equals ownership. If they own the home (meaning after closing) and stuff remains, as far as I know its theirs.


I hope your DD gets through the stress. We are buying a house right now and we got some really dissapointing news last night. I'll be glad when its finally over (that is if the deal even goes through)

 

[ntburns22]

SOmething similar happened to us. It was in the contract that they had to be out by 2pm. We had to be out of our old house at noon. So the moving truck and our caravan of people pull up at 1:50. Let's just say they were not out till 5pm. Their listing agent is our neighbor now and we knew this. So we went knocking on her door and she got her family to help them pack up and get out. They didn't leave until like 5pm. When they were done they had the nerve to have a picnic on the porch. It was the worst day of my life.

Call the agents to make sure they will be out on time.

 

[C.Ann]

....

 

[hiwaygal]

Is there anything in the contract that would allow your DD to collect "rent" on the house if they are not out at the agreed upon date. Perhaps that extra cost (and knowing all that stuff will be lost) might help motivate these folks too.

 

[floridafam]

I am not sure I would close unless you schedule a walk through the day of closing. If they are still there with all of their stuff then I wouldn't close. They will just stay and stay and turn the situation into a nightmare for everyone involved.

You could have them set something up to collect rent from her if they stay after closing but will they pay?

 

[C.Ann]

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[C.Ann]

..

 

[floridafam]

That's why I would be hesitant to close if the walk through does not show that they vacated the house.

 

[mickeysgal]

Let your DD's real estate agent AND her lawyer handle this. The sellers should not be contacting DD, nor should your DD be directly involved with them. This is a business deal...the two parties shouldn't be talking directly working out details. Its too emotional. Let the professionals handle it.

It sounds like they have no intention of selling this house. They haven't closed, so the house is not theirs, so DD can't start any kind of eviction on them. Yes, your DD can perhaps start a legal process to get them to honor the contract, but you know as well as everyone else does, these sellers will drag their feet about it. A lawyer may tell your DD to cut her loses and find another home...

I remember we tried once to look at a home over and over. The RE agent knew that the couple was divorcing and convieniently the house was never able to have a showing booked.

You don't want to be the third party caught in middle of a bitter divorce. It just ties you up and stresses you out.

Best wishes!

 

[Mermaid02]

A friend of mine and her husband signed a contract with a woman to buy her house and 2 weeks later she said, "I changed my mind- sorry" my friends lawyer called hers and said, "We expect her to honor the contract and will make her do so- you know she'll lose in court." to make a long story short she sold them the house. That's why legal papers are signed.

 

[Chicago526]

DO NOT rent to them! You'll never get rid of them. Do the walk through, but even if they've still got stuff there, you can continue with the closing. Once closed the house is yours (well, your DD's) and you can just toss their stuff out on to the curb, it's up to them to come and get it before the trashmen and scavengers do. That's what I threatend to do when I bought my condo. The seller got 99% of his stuff out, but left a few boxes, a bbq grill and a few odds and ends in the garage. I called my agent, she called his agent (who was his mother, you'd think they'd know better!) and told her that garbage day was Tuesday and he had until then to pick up his stuff, because it was going out on the curb Monday night (this was Friday). He came and got it the next morning (he did apologize, he said his friend was supposed to come by with a truck and pick it up but never showed).

And have a locksmith on call to come and change the locks ASAP. This happened to a good friend of mine. Her seller did get all the stuff out of the house, but the downside to that was the seller just put it all into the garage! (what is it with garages, they don't count as part of the "house" or something?) My friend had the locks changed while she was moving her stuff in. That night, the seller tried to use her old keys to get into the house! My friend was alone (her SO was at work I think) and she almost called the cops before she recognized the seller. She told her off and said to call her the next day to set up a time when she could get the stuff out the garage. She did two days later, I think.

 

[malibuconlee]

I remember we tried once to look at a home over and over. The RE agent knew that the couple was divorcing and convieniently the house was never able to have a showing booked.

I've seen this happen before too.

I would NOT lease back to these people. I also agree to let the agents deal with these people. If they aren't ready at closing, I'd hit them with breach of contract, but I wouldn't lease to them.

When we bought our house in Iowa I know the lady we bought the house from wanted the proceeds from her sale to put on her new place and wanted to lease back from us to have that money at her closing.

I didn't want the responsibility of being a landlord if something were to go wrong while she was living there.

It may be wise to keep an eye out for other properties in the mean time.

If the sellers really are that ill it is possible they'll hire movers to do it all, and I've done that enough times to tell you that two weeks before we moved this year we had Christmas dinner for 18 at our house. Everything in it's place. Come moving day all I had packed were the things I needed while everything else was in the truck and the things I knew they wouldn't take (jewelry box). They packed our entire house, basement, and garage in a day. Loaded it the next.

 

[mickeysgal]

DO NOT rent to them! You'll never get rid of them. Do the walk through, but even if they've still got stuff there, you can continue with the closing. Once closed the house is yours (well, your DD's) and you can just toss their stuff out on to the curb

Yes, but the key issue here is that the house has not closed yet. The sellers want to push back the close, which is not a good move, imho. These sellers are either very disorganized or just playing a game with the buyers. Shoot...they can choose to not even show up for the close. Getting the house to close is the hurdle here.

I'd insist on an ample escrow to be held until after they vacate and the buyers (DD) inspects the house for damages. If the sellers don't want to move and are forced out legally, they may trash the place.

 

[TEENEE]

That happened to my dh and his ex wife. The sellers were a pain in the butt the whole time. The house needed some repairs to the roof. The sellers kept dragging their feet to fix it. So dh and his friends went to the house on a Saturday morning and repaired the roof. The sellers were not happy about that. After closing the sellers were given the weekend to move out. Once again they dragged their feet. When it was clear that they had no intention of moving out the police were called. At that point the police officer managed to get my dh and his ex to agree to give them 2 hours to get all of their belongings out of the house. After the 2 hours a few things were still in the house. So dh and his dad took their things and set them out on the curb. One of the things they left in the house was their fish tank, with the fish still in it. The guys picked up the tank just the way it sat and set it down in the driveway. The long and short of the story is yes you can get them out of the house after the closing even if they don't want to leave.

 

[mickeysgal]

Ok..just me again with another .02 comment...

IF your DD can get this house to close, then your DD has to realize that that house and everything that happens in that house from that moment on, is her liability. If someone stays in that house and lets say, falls and hurts themselves, your DD is liable. This is another reason why renting back to them, is not a great idea.

When people start acting goofy, like these sellers are, I wouldn't trust them to act appropriately. If there is a divorce situation, or if money is some sort of issue, or if they're resentful that they're getting "forced" into honoring the contract and selling, you don't need the possibility of them dreaming up ways to stay in the house or causing any kind of monetary/liability to the new owners. People get goofy over things and get irrational when things aren't going their way. Another reason to get them out immediately IF you can get this house to close.

 

[Chicago526]

Yes, but the key issue here is that the house has not closed yet. The sellers want to push back the close, which is not a good move, imho. These sellers are either very disorganized or just playing a game with the buyers. Shoot...they can choose to not even show up for the close. Getting the house to close is the hurdle here.

I'd insist on an ample escrow to be held until after they vacate and the buyers (DD) inspects the house for damages. If the sellers don't want to move and are forced out legally, they may trash the place.

This is true, there is no way to force them to sign the paperwork if they don't want to. You can sue all you want (and you'd win!), but you can't make them sell.

When I was closing on my condo, I was buying from a boyfriend/girlfriend couple that broke up. She had left, and assumed BF was paying the mortgage, and he wasn't. They had to sell to avoid foreclosure. He owed so much in back payments and association fees (he hadn't paid those either) that he actually had to PAY $5,000 at closing to sell the house! So, there was no proceeds for them to split. GF didn't know this and thought she was getting money back. She found out, flipped out, and refused to come to closing unless BF paid her the money she felt she was owed. BF had nothing, he'd borrowed the $5k from his parents as it was. Their lawyer spent an hour on the phone, explaining to her that if she didn't sign, the bank would take the condo (their court date was the next day!) and I'd sue their butts off (and I would have!) and then she'd really be up a creek with no paddle. She finaly came in and signed.

 

[barkley]

if the seller is truly ill and going into nursing care it may be that they've found out that in order to qualify for medicaid benefits (and have the house not count/disqualify the person from eligibility) there must be an "intent to return". it may be that they anticipate that the husband will only be hospitalized/nursing care for a short period of time (as with a friend's father-broke his hip and after hospital let him out he went to nursing care for 45 days to recover) and they know that if they hold out on selling they can have the house deemed exempt for eligiblity purposes. they also may be planning on using a divorce as a means (misguided on their part cuz we would check these issues out and make sure everything was correctly done) to hide property from consideration.

i would have my realtor call theirs and tell him/her that the seller brought the medical and divorce issues to your attention and you want to find out if the male seller retains legal competancy to complete the sale (or has he given financial power of attny. to someone else), if any quick claim to the property from one spouse to the other has been done, and if your agent had the escrow company do an immediate lein search would they find any medicaid or other medical leins showing that were not there previously.

i would also have my real estate agent secure an agreement with the sellers (both-NOT JUST THE WIFE) stating that x number of dollars will be held from the final disbursement of funds in escrow for a period of say 5 days in the event all of the property is not removed at which time the buyer will dispose of/hire someone to dispose of-at the sellers expense.