I am purchasing a property in Virginia. In the process of closing, I discovered that repairs and painting that was supposed to be done and was written in the contract and addendum was not being done. In the contract it was written that the "window casings were to be repaired; painting, caulking and trim were to be done as well. Exterior to be painted, original colors, interior to be painted, buyer to choose paint color and style." As per invoices reviewed, only one window casing/trim(to the garage) was repaired. The painters invoice stated; the interior walls were to be painted white, excluding trim, baseboards and ceiling. This is not what we agreed. We agreed that the interior would be painted and the buyer to choose paint color and style. Both the seller and myself, the buyer, signed the contract and all addendums which state the details of painting and repairs. A painter had been contracted to paint and a separate person had been contacted to do the window repairs. While relaying the facts to the agent and telling her that I have no choice but to request that this be done, the agent stated "You have other choices, you can always walk away from the contract and we can put the house back on the market and don't tell me how to do my job!" She then hung up on me. The title representative, as well as the Agent and the Mortgage representative were present and could hear this conversation. Since then, we have gone through a series of back and forth negotiations. I asked for the estimate which came to $2400.00, from the painter, that would provide services according to what was agreed in the contract; to be held in escrow to go to this painter to finish this job. I was told no by the agents for the seller. Friday evening I was called by my agent and was told "the sellers agents have stated, "we have worked out an arrangement with the painter. He will repair windows on outside, casings and trim to be caulked and he will paint inside your color and style, but not ceiling, trim and baseboards." That, again is not what was agrred. The sellers agents are refusing to do what we agreed. In addition, a judgment was discovered on the title and adequate proof of settlement has not been given. I am trying to figure out what I need to do next. Is this a breach of contract because they failed to comply with the agreed terms? What can I do to ensure that the house will be painted and repairs done as we stated in the contract. I would like to purchase this house under the conditions agreed upon and signed on the contract and addendums. I would like to close on this property.
Miriam

What's your agent doing in all this? What's in writing is what the seller will perform. There is no renegotiation. They need to know that if you take them to court or mediation, they will be required to perform per the contract, period. A close friend of mine had this exact situation when he bought his house a while ago. His agent didn't know what she was doing and let the sellers get away with not following through on the contract.

Your agent and real estate lawyer should be there to offer advice and guide you through this. If your agent is not sure what to do, you can contact their broker and the broker of the listing agent. If this doesn't work, you can also go to your local board of RealtorsŪ to have them verify what the contract states even if you don't want to involve a lawyer at this point.

You can insist the work be completed as agreed to by everyone and I believe I would.

If you close with this work incomplete you leverage with the seller and their agent goes WAY, WAY down.

You might consider calling the listing agent's broker and see if you can get anywhere with him or her.

I agree with Dee's question on this also, what's your agent doing while all this is going on???

Local boards of Realtors are trade associations for the Realtors; they typically don't review contracts and offer very much advice.

You might consider talking to a real estate attorney.

When I went to meet my agent to discuss this, I was informed that the seller's agents are "out of town." They have left another agent, who has yet to return our calls, to handle this. I have contacted the seller's realty company's management office(broker firm) to file a complaint and left copies of all documents including the two conflicting invoices, with them. My agent received a fax at 1 p.m. I won't quote the entire fax just a portion "Buyer accepts property AS_IS, Where IS and will hold seller harmless against all other repair and/or painting issues with the exception of items listed on walk through report. If closing does not occur by 5 p.m. Tuesday June 7th 2005, buyer and seller agree that purchase agreement is automatically void and released. In such case, buyer would be entitled to a full refund of earnest money deposit and seller will put the house back on the market" This is an addendum to purchase agreement which we will absolutely not sign. It is dated on the 7th of May but signed on the 4th of May? Can they get away with sending something like that. What happens if we don't sign?

The key words in the addendum they sent you are: "buyer and seller agree".

It's pretty obvious the buyer does not agree.

While I'm hesitant to offer advice here because I don't know the full situation I would not sign that addendum and I would not close unless I got some sort of ageement or monetary settlement to make sure the work was done as already agreed to by the sellers.

You need to talk to an attorney ASAP on this transaction to get the best possible advice.

For some reason the sellers and/or their agents have came to the conclusion they can get away with not doing what they said they would do in writing.

I happened to be in court most of yesterday as a witness for one of my seller clients who sued a buyer for backing out of a deal at the 11th hour under the guise of a bogus home inspection clause.

The buyer lost his $5,000 earnest money deposit, a little over $8,000 in expense reimbursement to the seller, plus court costs and paying the seller's attorney's fees; I figure that little lesson in contract law cost him around $15,000.

Written documents do mean what they say and are enforceable legally.