Are you wondering what to do if buyers are suing you two years after selling your home? Has legal action been initiated against you for issues that were previously addressed during the sale? Are you seeking advice on how to protect yourself legally in this situation and what options are available to you? Wondering who you can turn to for help and what outcomes to expect in this case? #homesale #buyerdispute #legalsituation
>Who should I turn to for help in this matter
A local lawyer who deals with real estate cases.
>and what outcomes can I expect from this case?
The lawyer will be able to answer that better than we can.
Were you served papers or are they just saying they will sue you? If the former, you need an attorney. If the latter, ignore until you’re sued.
Speaking broadly, if you were honest in your property disclosure, then you should be okay. If you lied or omitted anything in the property disclosure, even if the buyer had their own inspection, you could be in trouble. I’m concerned about this because you mentioned the buyer inspection, and your previous work, and the as is contract, but nothing about the property disclosure.
Either way you need an attorney that specializes in real estate matters.
What is the specific cause of action they are alleging you owe damages under? If it has anything to do with a mistake/accident you made or says the word “negligent” anywhere in it there is a decent chance your homeowners insurance may provide a defense and even indemnity. Contact a locally licensed real estate attorney and bring a copy of your policy to ask about their recommendations of whether to tender a claim. Sometimes when you already have counsel for unique claims, the insurer will just pay the attorney you selected to continue defending.
You need a lawyer, but if it’s any consolation most states have a caveat emptor rule or “buyer beware.” This makes it extremely difficult to sue a seller unless there was an intentional concealment of a defect to the property, like putting up drywall over structural fire damage to hide it. Nevertheless, this isn’t something you can do on your own, be prepared to pay your own lawyer.
What do you mean by “initiated legal action?” Have you received a court summons, or a demand letter from the buyers’ attorney?
So definitely get a lawyer, but in my experience these cases usually go nowhere. Unless he can show you intentionally hid things from the inspector he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on. Sounds like someone just wasn’t ready for the responsibility of home ownership.
Did you have an attorney representing you in the sale/closing? You may want to see what was negotiated for the $45k credit you provided. He or she should have insulated you (at least to some degree) from this type of action. If not, your attorney’s malpractice insurance could come into play. Not sure if the same would apply to your agent if they were involved in negotiating the credit.
Same exact thing just happened to me. Got a letter asking for mediation and 50k to repair damages they claimed we tried to hide. I contacted a lawyer and had him ask for proof and to send a team of inspectors over to verify their claims. We never heard back from them after that. I’d check into your states laws on statute of limitations and contact a lawyer.
I work as a legal assistant, your contract probably have a caluse that states they are buying the house “AS IS” with any specified repairs that both parties agreed to. So you can just ignore these clowns
Your realtor’s brokerage really doesn’t want to get involved. “Want” is not the word. It’s an obligation that they should be handling.
Otherwise what did you pay them for? This is their territory whether wanted or not.
Not your house, not your problem. Pound sand
Sounds like the new owners kept the money and never fixed a thing and now it has to be fixed and will cost way more as it got worse. Tell them Home Depot has sand that they can pound for free.
They bought it and looked at the home. It got worse because they don’t take care of their house . Plain and simple.
The buyers were given a 45k credit to fix the issues as priced and agreed upon at the time of the sale. For them to assume that you are legally responsible for their inability to perform those repairs in a timely manner and within budget sounds like utter BS. Lawyer up and have them send a strongly worded retort to the buyers & legal council.
They don’t have a chance of winning and I would threaten to sue for court costs.
Don’t fall for this, their inspection and appraisal report includes all these things, their mortgage bank makes sure house has no issues because in reality bank owns that house, and they have insurance. So tell them get lost, go to their bank and call their insurance and get it fixed. They might be just extorting money from you.
You’ll win the case hands down. They got what they got and they don’t get upsot.;)
As others have said, you have not been served. Simply send a letter back stating playground rules. Rule #1. I am rubber, you are glue. It bounces off or me and sticks to you. Signed. Neener neener, neener!
Stay silent until lawsuit is served
Plus. They have to find you to serve you.
If you get a letter that requires signature, ignore it.
I am suing my home builder
My very expensive attorney is having a hell of a time finding him to serve him.
Say nothing until your legal representative tell you to do so.
As long as you were as honest as you could be in your seller’s disclosure.
They had their own home inspection.
Afterwards you negotiated a credit.
If the sale actually said in writing and they signed it, as is condition.
You could quite possibly start at mediation if your state has it between two parties.
I would ignore them let them spend the money for a lawyer.
If and when you are served then you should worry about it.
Right now they’re just butt hurt at finding out that homeownership isn’t always easy.
real estate paralegal here in a state where most things from the end of attorney review to minutes before the actual close is in the hands of paralegals. Would not respond in any way unless it’s through a lawyer. If the attorney that represented you does not do civil / litigation, they will likely be able to refer you to one. Every attorney I’ve worked for has had a go to recommendation for attorneys they would be able to turn your case over to. I’m not sure how it works in your state but in the state I’ve worked in, if a credit is offered by seller specifically to address and remediate that the buyer accepts, that is a pretty tight box the buyer has put themselves in regarding looking for further efforts by seller to remediate. Especially if the deal is closed and title is in their name. Unless the attorney/paralegal you used really, and I mean REALLY botched the language in the inspection negotiations, buyer does not have a leg to stand on. Was there an addendum signed by all parties and notarized laying out the terms of the credit and the satisfaction of the inspection clause? If so get a copy from the attorney you used in the sale, provide it to the attorney you find/get from your real estate attorney, and have them send a letter (they don’t usually charge all that much to write a letter) with the executed, notarized addendum that basically says something to the effect of “in response to your clients request for further negotiations and remediation for inspection items please see attached fully executed addendum in which buyer accepted sellers 45k credit to satisfy all inspection items, thus concluding the inspection process. In light of this, seller will not be reopening negotiations, nor will they be providing any further remediation.” This will put the ball in their attorneys court and unless they want to fight a losing battle, that will probably be the end of it.
Tldr; if buyer was worried about 45k not being enough, they should have asked for direct remediation and or have an escrow set up to leave seller liable for any cost beyond the 45k. Consequences suck and you MOST LIKELY have nothing to worry about.
What state ? I’m predicting your going to say California or they are California buyers .
You disclosed the issues to them, the contract specifically stated the sale was as-is, and you went above and beyond and provided an additional $45k credit to them to help address the issues.
Tell them that unless they want to lose their house to you, they’d better pound sand and go away, because you will counter-sue and win in any reasonable court. They were aware of the issues prior to the sale and chose to buy anyway. Caveat emptor, baby.
My advice would be to scrape together whatever money you can for a retainer in case they’re stupid enough to sue you and then laugh your way to the bank if they do. You might wind up owning the home again by the time you’re through with them, assuming you haven’t withheld any important information.
The day the deed changed hands for an as-is sale, you were no longer responsible for any issues that arose. Period.