Sellers aren't returning closing docs!

[stacy~**]

So we received our closing docs on October 4th and had a closing date of October 13. That came and went and last Thursday (Oct 16) I contacted the agent and she said they were sending in the paperwork tomorrow (Oct. 17). They had been "traveling".

Today I contact the agent and again she says they were mailed today. Our 30 days past estoppel is Saturday (Oct 25) so even if the sellers mailed their paperwork in today like she said we will miss the 30 days after estoppel closing deadline so my understanding is an addendum would need to happen which involves more paperwork for the sellers. I just don't think I can do it. I am over this.

So has anyone been through this. What is involved in this addendum? If I choose to walk away...which I am leaning towards, are there penalties for me? What about the seller? How does the closing company issue my refund?

 

[disneynutz]

You need to read your contract and contact your broker. People are people and some aren't in a hurry, some feel bad about selling, some are in a different country, some work, travel, and aren't counting the days like you are.

Sellers also have to have documents notarized which can cause delays.

You waited how many years to buy, what's a couple of months more?

Bill

 

[stacy~**]

I get what you are saying and it's probably the logical response but right now I am not feeling logical. Honestly, I feel like I have heard all those excuses and if we continue on I am just wondering what is involved in this addendum and how difficult it is going to be for them to complete it.

I had one late afternoon email exchange with my broker but she didn't respond to my follow up regarding what happens if we decide to walk away. I obviously won't pull out if we face penalties but I don't see how this is my fault and why I should be penalized. I couldn't find anything in the contract that specifies it.

This process is feeling less than magical.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Oh No! Still ongoing? I completely feel for you- we've been through this long process together the whole time.

 

[DizBub]

We had this happen to us a few years ago. Sellers would not return their papers, they were taking care of family business in a country in South America. They just went underground and ceased all contact with the broker. We actually waited for 3 months since it was a perfect totally loaded contract. Boy were we stupid. It was agony.

We finally pulled the plug and cancelled. Got every cent of our $ back with no penalty. Moved on and found another contract and that one went smoothly.

I don't blame you for not wanting to cancel and start all over. Hopefully you will get some resolution in the near future.

Best of luck.

 

[Dean]

So we received our closing docs on October 4th and had a closing date of October 13. That came and went and last Thursday (Oct 16) I contacted the agent and she said they were sending in the paperwork tomorrow (Oct. 17). They had been "traveling".

Today I contact the agent and again she says they were mailed today. Our 30 days past estoppel is Saturday (Oct 25) so even if the sellers mailed their paperwork in today like she said we will miss the 30 days after estoppel closing deadline so my understanding is an addendum would need to happen which involves more paperwork for the sellers. I just don't think I can do it. I am over this.

So has anyone been through this. What is involved in this addendum? If I choose to walk away...which I am leaning towards, are there penalties for me? What about the seller? How does the closing company issue my refund?

Ultimately it comes down to whether them missing the deadline would void the contract. If so, you could walk away for a full refund, if not, you'd lose your deposit. Once you're past any deadlines made and extended per you'r contract, you do not have a contract.

 

[stacy~**]

Oh No! Still ongoing? I completely feel for you- we've been through this long process together the whole time.

I know. And the whole irony is I felt like I have been pretty laid back about this whole waiting stuff but I guess to me when I see a closing date I expect us to close on that date. To me that doesn't seem flexible. You don't not show up to a house closing, right?

We had this happen to us a few years ago. Sellers would not return their papers, they were taking care of family business in a country in South America. They just went underground and ceased all contact with the broker. We actually waited for 3 months since it was a perfect totally loaded contract. Boy were we stupid. It was agony.

We finally pulled the plug and cancelled. Got every cent of our $ back with no penalty. Moved on and found another contract and that one went smoothly.

I don't blame you for not wanting to cancel and start all over. Hopefully you will get some resolution in the near future.

Best of luck.

Sorry this happened to you. We are pretty happy with our contract too so pulling out would be tough. We will see, I guess.

Ultimately it comes down to whether them missing the deadline would void the contract. If so, you could walk away for a full refund, if not, you'd lose your deposit. Once you're past any deadlines made and extended per you'r contract, you do not have a contract.

This is what my broker originally said:

If it goes over the 30 days from when the closing company received the estoppel information and both parties are still wanting to move forward an addendum will be written up to extend the agreement. Both parties have to sign it.

To me that makes it sound as if the contract is void after the 30 days? It kind of makes me wonder if the sellers are dragging their feet on purpose, especially if there are no penalties for them in doing so.

Hopefully I will know more today.

 

[cvjw]

Had the same thing happen. Once we passed the "close by" date in the original contract, we backed out of the contract. We received a check from the TSS to reimburse us for our down payment. We got all of our money back.

It was really a pain, but once we realized that the seller was not taking the broker's calls anymore, we saw the writing on the wall. We ended up buying another contract.

We have purchased (or tried to purchase) six resale contracts, and they all went super smoothly except this one. Sometimes you just get unlucky.

 

[Splashboat]

So we received our closing docs on October 4th and had a closing date of October 13. That came and went and last Thursday (Oct 16) I contacted the agent and she said they were sending in the paperwork tomorrow (Oct. 17). They had been "traveling".

Today I contact the agent and again she says they were mailed today. Our 30 days past estoppel is Saturday (Oct 25) so even if the sellers mailed their paperwork in today like she said we will miss the 30 days after estoppel closing deadline so my understanding is an addendum would need to happen which involves more paperwork for the sellers. I just don't think I can do it. I am over this.

So has anyone been through this. What is involved in this addendum? If I choose to walk away...which I am leaning towards, are there penalties for me? What about the seller? How does the closing company issue my refund?

I feel your pain. I am selling a contract and having issues with the buyers. They completely missed the deadline for getting the deposit in. The communication with the resale company and title company is non existent unless I follow up.
The resale company talked me into extending because they said the buyer was really upset and it was an oversight on their part.

Our closing date was supposed to be on or before 10/15. Again, no communication from the resale company or the title company but when I followed up I found out they sent the wrong documents.

If it doesn't close by the 30 day estoppel date I am walking away and finding another resale company. Good luck.

 

[JimMIA]

Stacy, do you know whether they owe money on the contract, and if so whether they owe more than they are netting after commissions? If so, they will have to pay IN to close, and may not be able to do so. In that case, this deal is probably dead and it's time to walk away.

I doubt if anyone is legitimately so "busy" that they don't follow through on a sale. I would strongly suspect they are either under water on the contract or have a pending reservation they want to keep.

One caution I would give, though. Don't consider for a second what happens to the seller. I know you're mad and would like to pound a bump on their head, but don't hurt yourself to do so.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I feel your pain. I am selling a contract and having issues with the buyers. They completely missed the deadline for getting the deposit in. The communication with the resale company and title company is non existent unless I follow up.
The resale company talked me into extending because they said the buyer was really upset and it was an oversight on their part.

Our closing date was supposed to be on or before 10/15. Again, no communication from the resale company or the title company but when I followed up I found out they sent the wrong documents.

If it doesn't close by the 30 day estoppel date I am walking away and finding another resale company. Good luck.

As the seller, if the buyer backs out after ROFR is passed, they forfeit their deposit. They owe half to the selling agent and half to the seller. We were trying to sell a small contract and the buyers backed out two times. So we picked up a few hundred dollars and still have the contract.

Just tell the selling company you want half the deposit now and see if that gets them moving.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I feel your pain. I am selling a contract and having issues with the buyers. They completely missed the deadline for getting the deposit in. The communication with the resale company and title company is non existent unless I follow up. The resale company talked me into extending because they said the buyer was really upset and it was an oversight on their part. Our closing date was supposed to be on or before 10/15. Again, no communication from the resale company or the title company but when I followed up I found out they sent the wrong documents. If it doesn't close by the 30 day estoppel date I am walking away and finding another resale company. Good luck.

Had a similar experience with a buyer. It was one excuse after another. The first sounded completely horrific on why they hadn't returned docs but then it started to get stupid so I pulled the plug a little while after they had missed the final deadline and excuses were still flying. Decided not to pursue the deposit though and ended up keeping the contract. The broker actually refunded the deposit to them.

I wasn't informed of any additional addendum being required though if we had actually continued with the sale.

 

[stacy~**]

I can't believe how many people enter into contracts and then don't follow though!

I am waiting to confirm with the broker that we can do an addendum with a week deadline. I really hate to give up the contract since we are very happy with the terms but I am also not interested in giving them another opportunity to drag their feet. Trying to keep my personal feelings aside and focus on the business aspect of it, although that is very hard!

It seems that the addendum is something that can be signed and emailed/faxed back and doesn't require a notary so a week should be more than enough time if they truly plan to sell. THIS is under the assumption that they did in fact mail in their original contact paperwork yesterday.

As far as I know they do not owe on the property. It is BWV and was purchased direct from Disney the year it opened.

 

[Sleepy425]

We have the dreaded "delayed closing" while the sellers take one last vacation. The broker made me feel silly for being worried about them backing out. Told my husband it has only happened once that he knows of. I told my husband I trust the Dis more than a salesman! We finally got closing docs Wednesday. I have every intention of stalking our broker to make sure the sellers return theirs (hopefully before they leave for Disney!).

 

[JimMIA]

We have the dreaded "delayed closing" while the sellers take one last vacation. The broker made me feel silly for being worried about them backing out. Told my husband it has only happened once that he knows of. I told my husband I trust the Dis more than a salesman! We finally got closing docs Wednesday. I have every intention of stalking our broker to make sure the sellers return theirs (hopefully before they leave for Disney!).

I assume from your post that you knew the closing would be delayed because of a booked reservation. If that's the case, and you're dealing with a reputable broker, you should be fine.

If the seller did not disclose the pending reservation, or if the broker didn't advise you of it, I'd be more concerned.

Any time there is a delay -- especially if it's unanticipated -- there is a greater risk of one party or the other backing out. I'm sure the sellers have the same concerns you have. Hopefully, everything will proceed normally.

There are often occasional hiccups along the way, but the vast majority of sales go through without major drama.

Good luck.

 

[JimMIA]

I really hate to give up the contract since we are very happy with the terms

Keep this part in mind.

... but I am also not interested in giving them another opportunity to drag their feet.

"Breathe in...breathe out. Wax on...wax off."

This is about a real estate transaction, not about winning. Fortunately for many of us (including yours truly), being annoying is not a crime.

Trying to keep my personal feelings aside and focus on the business aspect of it...

Exactly. It's a business transaction. You will have plenty of time for the emotional part (the good stuff) later.

 

[Dean]

This is what my broker originally said:

If it goes over the 30 days from when the closing company received the estoppel information and both parties are still wanting to move forward an addendum will be written up to extend the agreement. Both parties have to sign it.

To me that makes it sound as if the contract is void after the 30 days? It kind of makes me wonder if the sellers are dragging their feet on purpose, especially if there are no penalties for them in doing so.

Hopefully I will know more today.

I don't think it's the letter date but rather the contract wording. It's not uncommon to set up a closing and get a signed extension up front, often 60 days, as part of the original contractual paperwork. The problem with the letter expiring is you can't count on the info being accurate. The sellers might use or transfer points in the interim before closing.

 

[LorieDisneyLover]

This happen to us last month.

We were the buyers and we sent our closing papers and wired the money and heard nothing for weeks.

I was so frustrated knowing our money was sitting somewhere and time was clicking by.

I sent a polite but firm email to the closing agent saying if we did not close by the following Tuesday the deal was off and I expected a full refund (the closing date on the contract had passed). I really didn't want to lose the deal but at the same time I wasn't willing to wait any longer.

We closed on that Tuesday.

I wasn't happy how it went down … I think the sellers were dragging their feet b/c they had a loan and had to bring money to the table. But I wanted to have those points b/c some expire at the end of January.

 

[sndral]

This happen to us last month.

We were the buyers and we sent our closing papers and wired the money and heard nothing for weeks.

I was so frustrated knowing our money was sitting somewhere and time was clicking by.

I sent a polite but firm email to the closing agent saying if we did not close by the following Tuesday the deal was off and I expected a full refund (the closing date on the contract had passed). I really didn't want to lose the deal but at the same time I wasn't willing to wait any longer.

We closed on that Tuesday.
I wasn't happy how it went down … I think the sellers were dragging their feet b/c they had a loan and had to bring money to the table. But I wanted to have those points b/c some expire at the end of January.

I also sent an email basically saying if I didn't close by the date set in the contract I was ready to move on to another contract. This worked and the documents were suddenly mailed overnight by the sellers. The broker tried to say getting the documents notorized was 'hard to do' my response was that I doubted that it was any harder than wiring several thousand dollars to buy the thing and I'd managed to do that in a very short time.
In my case I sort of think the divorcing sellers weren't good with deadlines as they'd not managed to bank their unused prior years points and they expired as we went through the process (My offer assumed those points would be lost before we could hope to close.)

 

[bellapecas]

I had a similar situation last month. My sellers were foreign and one was traveling. Then they didn't get everything notarized. Then they "forgot" to send in the money they owed. Then we found out they hadn't completed the necessary FIFTA documents. At that point I was done. The contract expiration date had passed and I canceled the contract based on seller default. We got all our money back and I put an offer in on a new contract the following day. I'm waiting on those closing docs now!