Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You need to carefully review the language in the purchase agreement. I assume, if you used a real estate agent, that the purchase agreement was drafted on a California Association of Realtors� Residential Purchase Agreement. If that is the case, Paragraph 9 provides that the property is being sold in it's "PRESENT physical" condition as of the date of the acceptance of your offer to purchase. The previous versions of the CAR contract had a clause which provided that in the event of a change in condition prior to close of escrow, Seller was required to make repairs or Buyer could cancel. That provision appears to be gone from the newest version of the contract. Although that provision has been removed, the key is paragraph 9 which says it is being sold in the condition as of the date of acceptance. As such, any subsequent change in condition is the responsibility of the owner. The homeowner may have stripped those items, or the home may have been left open in the homeowner's absence allowing someone to steal the items. In any event, the homeowner is likely responsible. I would suggest contacting a local real estate litigation attorney to discuss the case in more detail, and analyze the options of pursuing the homeowner.

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Either the seller, or any tenants the seller had, are responsible. The cause of action is called bad faith waste.