Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Idaho
Real Estate Contract Default
I accepted an offer on my house that included $1000 ernest money and allowed the buyer to rent until her house sold in California and she could then purchase my house, closing to be by Nov. 1, 2002. Additionally, in order to receive rental assistance from Idaho Housing, she signed a 1 year lease. Now, she wants out of the contract, paying rent through April and forfiting the earnest money, of which I only get half. I am concerned because I have lost months of having the house on the market, and worry about the condition of new paint, new carpet and new floors put in the house prior to her taking possession. I am also unhappy because the Selling and Listing agents are in the same office and arranged this great contract. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Real Estate Contract Default
I'll answer your questions one at a time: (1) You put the closing date way too far into the future; (2) When you rent you always run the risk that the renter will leave the place with damages. the only thing you can do is to sue her for the costs of fixing the damages by either having the damages fixed and suing for the amount of the costs or trying to sue her under the contract for breach; (3) I would have to review the contract to determine what your damages might be under the contract, altho usually you can sue to collect the balance of the contract if she is still in possession; (4) Never rent to someone under Idaho or Boise City Housing Autority b/c the terms are slanted to help the needy person and it is more difficult to collect unpaid rent and to evict the tenant; (5) Never enter a contract without an attorney or an actual attorney prepared contract because the forms realtors use are made as simple as possible and most realtors have no idea what they are really doing when they fill out these forms; (6) If the contract required you to put the carpet and floors in as part of the deal, you should be able to sue the buyer for the costs of doing so; (7) you can sue for her violation and default of the contract but only under the terms of the contract, so I wouldn't know what damages you might be able to recover until I read it. I would have to read the contract to tell you what contractual rights you have. My teleph No. is 208-345-3817 and I do represent people in these circumstances.