Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
possible contract breach
We offered on a home in San Jose that's been on market for over 1.5 years under 5 realators. I got a bad impression of the owner, who asked for unusual things like our W2's for our financial proof. It came down to negotiations over inspections. The original contract included all Section 1 work, a negotiation agreement for repairs and it's an arbitration contract. Things wrong with the place include foundation and safety problems. The realators spent hours explaining to the seller why repairs are required. He verbally agreeed with my realator that this was the case. We in writing asked for repairs or money off the original price. He countered 20% of what we asked and termite only. He contacted my realator later, and again agreed verbally that repairs were needed. 2 days later, prior to our response, the seller faxed a rescintion of his earlier counter to just termites. The next day he went by my realators office saying if we wanted to sign out of this deal, we'd better do it soon. I'm thinking he breached the original contract, and we are due the inspection fees. It doesn't seem to me that he really wanted to sell the home.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: possible contract breach
I can't say for sure without careful examination of all the written exchanges (the oral exchanges are of very little importance), but it sounds to me as though there was never sufficient agreement to constitute a contract.
Asking for W-2s might be appropriate if seller financing were involved in the deal; otherwise, this is pretty nosy.
It's not clear what relief you want. If you were thinking of taking the failed deal to arbitration over inspection fees, it's probably not worth it. If you wanted specific performance (sale of the house to you on the terms agreed upon -- if any) then you should consult a local real-estate lawyer to have your chances assessed based upon the state of the signed papers.
Re: possible contract breach
A contract in real estate must be in writing. Any verbal agreements are not worth anything. A review of the written contract will be needed to determine if he is in breach or not.
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