Reneging on deal

[JimMIA]

Jim, as far as I know this 10 day cancelation period only applies to the buyer.

I've been told both ways by brokers. It may be that there is no realistic recourse to the buyer if the seller changes their mind.

I know there have been a LOT of Fidelity underwater sellers who have reneged on signed deals because they didn't have cash to close.

 

[Dean]

I've been told both ways by brokers. It may be that there is no realistic recourse to the buyer if the seller changes their mind.

I know there have been a LOT of Fidelity underwater sellers who have reneged on signed deals because they didn't have cash to close.

My understanding is the law only applies to the buyer but anyone could include it in the contract as well. There are also provisions for cancelation up to a year but hopefully the contracts under the brokers should meet the criteria for 10 days from signing.

 

[drusba]

The legal requirement in a resale of a timeshare in Florida is that the contract must provide that the buyer (not the seller) can cancel within ten days after signing the contract, in which case the buyer gets back his deposit. The contract can make the period longer but not shorter and if the contract fails to contain such a provision the buyer has up to a year after closing to void the contract and get all his money back.

Thus, OP could cancel now (in writing) if the ten day period has not expired.

If the OP backs out after that ten day period, then look to the contract for the remedies. Usually the buyer loses his deposit and, as noted above, some contracts provide that as the exclusive remedy for the seller. Even if forfeiture of deposit is not the exclusive remedy, it is highly unlikely the seller will seek specific performance of the contract or otherwise bring a court action, including because it is just not worth paying lawyers to pursue a case when you have a property that can just be turned around and sold to someone else. The broker is also unlikely to seek further relief although there is some chance it could do so if there are penalty provisions in the contract favoring the broker.

Will the same broker then turn around and deal with the buyer on another resale. For that it just depends on the broker, who has somewhat of a difficult choice because he cannot really trust the buyer to go through with any deal at this point and he may have to warn the seller when the buyer's offer is made that buyer is one who reneged on another contract.

 

[Dividends]

The legal requirement in a resale of a timeshare in Florida is that the contract must provide that the buyer (not the seller) can cancel within ten days after signing the contract, in which case the buyer gets back his deposit. The contract can make the period longer but not shorter and if the contract fails to contain such a provision the buyer has up to a year after closing to void the contract and get all his money back. Thus, OP could cancel now (in writing) if the ten day period has not expired .

Thanks for the information.

How about with DVC though? If the buyer sent his request within 10 days to the broker/seller, but they already sent the papers to Disney for ROFR, does the broker/seller need to tell DIsney that the buyer backed off? Or can the broker/sellers keep quiet and hope Disney buys it?

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the information.

How about with DVC though? If the buyer sent his request within 10 days to the broker/seller, but they already sent the papers to Disney for ROFR, does the broker/seller need to tell DIsney that the buyer backed off? Or can the broker/sellers keep quiet and hope Disney buys it?

They won't initiate the actual change until they get notification of the closing and a copy of the deed so there is no issues about ROFR other than the 10 days window from the qualifying date, normally when the buyer signs.