Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: p & s agreement expired...

Retain an attorney to review the Purchase agreement and all related documents and the fact chronology to detemine exaclty what your rights are before doing, saying or signing anything else.

Good Luck!

Re: p & s agreement expired...

Thanks for your message. You are thinking along the right lines here. The P&S agreement controls on the question of when your obligations to purchase the property begin and end. If it's a standard form P&S, it probably has a provision that says that the closing is to occur on a particular date. It probably also has a provision that gives the seller an additional 30 days beyond the closing to clear up any title problems or "otherwise make the premises conform" with the terms of the P&S. After that 30-day period has expired, if the seller is unable to deliver the property in conformity with the agreement, then you are relieved of any obligation to buy it, unless you or any attorney or broker acting on your behalf signed any further extension of the closing date, and absent such written extension you would be entitled to the return of your deposit. My opinion is based on assumptions about the content of the P&S and is subject to change if the content of the P&S differs from those assumptions. I would be happy to discuss this issue with you in further detail. For more on my background please go to www.lawfang.com.

Re: p & s agreement expired...

You describe a classic P&S dispute. First, no firm answer can be given without inspecting the language of the controlling documents and knowing much more about the facts, including the reasons why the home wasn't ready and the conduct, actions and statements of the parties about this and the extension of the time to perform. Assuming your description sufficiently and accurate describes precisely what occured, you may well have a good claim for the return of the deposit. But, as you have already noticed, you can certainly expect a fight. What seller who thinks they successfully sold a house in this market will be eager to let you out of the deal? Feel free to contact me for additional help if you wish.

Re: p & s agreement expired...

It is hard to answer your question without knowing additional facts.

You talk about an extension not being offered to you to sign, but it is not clear whether you needed the extension or whether the sellers needed the extension, which would affect the outcome.

If you had an attorney representing you for the negotiation and drafting of the "long form" P&S, he or she probably added language that if your mortgage commitment expired after the original date for performance, but before the typical 30 day extension period for the Seller, you could terminate the contract.

You would be well-advised to speak with an attorney - and the suggestion in a previous answer, not to discuss it further with the Sellers, would be well worth following until you have a chance to speak with an attorney.

Depending upon the size of the deposit, there would probably be an economic incentive for the Sellers to lower the price (if they can), provided that they don't have a backup offer close to the original selling price. Whether it makes sense to you, or whether the Seller's mortgage is small enough to permit them to do that, will determine how easily the matter is resolved. (Of course, if the deposit is less than the decrease in the market value, the Sellers will have an economic incentive to keep the deal alive, assuming they are receiving good advice from their advisors.)

Re: p & s agreement expired...

It sounds as though you have already received some good advice.

Please let me know if you would like to schedule a consultation at my office. I charge a low flat rate for an unlimited consultation and document review, and I would likely be able to tell you in a quick meeting what you rights are under the Purchase & Sale Agreement.

If you are still looking to purchase a home, I charge only $600.00 to represent buyers in the home purchase process, and can help prevent disputes like this one.