Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I signed and accepted an offer on the sale of my house that included paying for section 1 repairs on the pest report I had done which excluded the deck. After that contract was signed, the prospective buyers had another pest report done which did include the deck. Now my agent is telling me that I am responsible for paying for the replacement of the deck-$26,000+-because it was included in their section 1 repair list and I cannot use my report because it didn't include the deck. My agent and I specifically talked about this before the house went to market and that's why we did not include the deck. Is this really enforceable and why?

Asked on 9/04/14, 12:32 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys

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It depends on the terms of your contract. It sounds like you need to have your contract looked at by a lawyer, and an evaluation as to whether your agent was negligent in handling this issue.

Answered on 9/04/14, 1:58 pm

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William Christian Rodi Pollock

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You need counsle to carefully review your Real Estate Purchase Agreements to see exactly what they say. General specualtion will not be of assistance.

Answered on 9/04/14, 2:41 pm

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Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

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You can argue over the deck being included or not, repairs required or not, get legal opinions one way or the other, but the bottom line is that, you can either mutually agree to some amount of repairs, or timely refuse their repair demand and let the deal cancel, then resell to someone else, with a better written sales agreement and escrow documentation. Consult with counsel to confirm your rights and the contract terms.

Answered on 9/05/14, 11:06 am

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