Appendix

I just had to share this about our house situation. The seller obviously is not planning on signing over the house. We already know that. Per the contract that he signed when accepting our offer to buy his house (which he chose to list), he is liable to us for a minimum of $1,000 (the equivalent to our earnest money deposit, which we will also get back). That payment is required "upon demand." If he refuses to pay that penalty, the contract states that we retain the right to "pursue other remedies available at law" (sue). That's all pretty standard in a residential real estate contract. The day after our scheduled closing, that section of the contract was referenced in a letter that was sent to the seller explaining the consequences for not signing the closing documents, and giving him the option to sign now and avoid further action. The seller was not interested in the least in even looking at the letter. He just handed the broker a letter prepared by an attorney he had hired stating that "At this juncture, Mr. ***** is simply desirous of having the listing cotract cancelled and would be satisfied with no further contact from your company." Well, duh! Anyone who was trying to get out of a legal contract with no recourse would be ecstatic with just that! I thought that was pretty funny. Now, with a little more detailed background conveyed, here's the funny part. I spoke with my realtor this morning and she relayed part of a conversation her broker had with the seller's attorney this morning. It went something like this:

Attorney (referring to the $1,000 penalty): "Good luck getting any money out of him."

Broker: "Just so I understand, you're saying that he is leaving our clients (us) no choice but to sue him as it states in the contract he signed on March 19?"

Attorney: "It does?"

HA!!! "It does?"!!! Is this guy serious??? How can he even feign representation for this poor guy if he hasn't even read the contract he so confidently assures him he doesn't have to fulfill??? Are you kidding? That part of the contract was even referenced in that first letter the day after the seller refused to close. He didn't even HAVE to read the whole contract! We practically HANDED the information he needed to him on a silver platter so he didn't even have to do any further research on the case if he didn't want to! I found that comment the funniest of all.

He then said something to the effect of, "I'll speak with my client and get back to you tomorrow."

Yeah. It's no wonder when we "googled" him, we found nothing but records of reprimands and suspended bar licenses. Had he read our initial letter, we could possibly have had this issue resolved already a week ago. But after everything that's happened in the last week and a half, it's not really suprising. Anyway. It made me laugh this morning, even though it's possibly the the most doltish, unprofessional behavior I have ever encountered from a legal professional. So I thought I'd share. Hope you all enjoyed the stupidity! I got some laughs anyway.