Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Home contracted for sale

1) It depends. Civil Code section 1102.3 provides for a right for a party to rescind a contract after receiving a disclosure statement.

If they have legitimate grounds for getting out of the contract, like failure of a contingency, they may be able to get out, legitimately.

2) Be prepared for a buyer's breach.

3) Assuming you had a legitimate case, you can sue for damages. Your contract may have provided for a liquidated damages clause, and you can look to any earnest money deposit as a source of funds to apply toward the damages for the buyer's breach.

Very truly yours,

Re: Home contracted for sale

You are the buyers, right? I read the previous answer and parts of it at least seem to assume you are the sellers.

Here's my analysis:

First, work closely with your agent. They earn good commissions for their services, which include making sure, to the extent they can, that deals progress smoothly and that possible obstacles to a closing are anticipated and nipped in the bud.

Next, review your contract with the sellers for the presence or absence of contingencies that might give the sellers a legitimate excuse not to close (unlikely; contingencies usually go the other way); an attorney fee clause; a mediation clause; and an arbitration clause. The presence or absence of these clauses will have a rather strong effect on the economics of litigating and the steps to be taken first.

The foregoing probably handles your Question 2. The answer to your first question is probably also the answer to #3, and that is as follows: A buyer of real estate can usually sue for "specific performance," i.e., a court decree ordering the seller to complete the sale and transfer title upon your payment of the purchase price. Arbitrators can also award specific performance. If you have a prevailing-party attorney-fee clause, you'd get a lot of your outlays back if you won; a good real estate attorney should be able to give you a fairly reliable prediction of whether the sellers have any defenses against a demand for specific performance in or soon after your first interview.