Is there another way to stop a sale of a property till my earnest money is addressed to my satisfaction ?
I have agreed to have a Town home built for me and put down earnest money. The builder has completed the home but not to specs. Kitchen layout has changed from Island to “L” shape without notice to me. Also copper gutters are now painted aluminum, kitchen warming drawer is non existant, no pedestalls under washer/dryer, no closet rods/racks, no window blinds,all part of the contract. Builder says too bad, go to closing and pay for property any way or he will keep earnest money. I say finish home he says it is. Title company is holding earnest money, he has requested release of it to him, I say no and requested release to me, he says no. I have filed Lis Pendens at county clerk to hinder a sale he may want to make to another buyer.
Contract calls for mediation then arbitration, He wants to skip mediation and go to arbitration, I say no.
I will not purchase this property, he is out of contract.
How else can I stop/hinder/cloud any sale of this property till I get satisfaction ?
Yes I do have an attorney who specializes in real estate contract law. He says no brainer on a win for me…but, you never know. We have sent all letters and opened a mediation case and also have contacted the preferred arbitration service.
I am just not comfortable with just a “Lis Pendens” filed at the county to stop a potential sale by the builder before I recieve funds. I was hoping for something else with a little more meat in it or even less that would force the builder to reckon with me. More like force him to give it up…
Good to hear from you and thanks,
Darin
The Lis Pendens effectively stops any sale. No one will touch it until it’s removed. Whose paying the holding costs? If it’s the builder, he will get sick of them soon and be more likely to settle on your terms.
You can file a lawsuit for bad faith, breach of contract, etc. The case may get dismissed due to the arbitration clause in the contract. You can report him to the better business bureau or the state authority that regulates the trade. You could file a complaint with the consumer protection agency of your state. But in all honesty, I don’t think any of these options will get you your money any quicker. I think you are doing all that you can. The wheels of justice turn slowly.
Have you approached the state contractor’s board and AG? If you can’t place a lien against him, put some “meat” on your contacts against him and release them when he steps up- if he so chooses.
I’ve dealt with shady contractors as well and feel your pain. Go to your local news team and make a spectacle of this guy. Media loves this sort of thing, and builders/contractors/developers will do anything to avoid negative publicity. It reaches others who may have had similar experiences and then you have “strength in numbers”. I hope this helps.
My son is buying a custom home and his design contract was so specific it was 70 pages and took two visits to design center first was scheduled for 4 hours and took 5 hours and second visit was for 3 hours and took 6 hours but they address everything and each item was signed and dated and both parties got a copy. I have to say it was with a nationwide builder and so far they have been great. Not only did we pick every cabinet and surface we choose where each outlet and phone and internet outlet would be. They were very specific that once this contract was done that was the final placement and choice so we were very sure to pick and do exactly as we wanted. They did say sometimes an error is made and they would take responsibility and fix it as sometimes a installer will make a mistake. They said the buyer/my son he would come to 4 stages of the building process to view that things were on track and in place as agreed upon. We felt very impressed with them and look forward to the final result. They also warranty the house for 10 years everything/2 years on appliances. They also said that they strive for excellant customer service so they resolve any issue within the week if you need them to fix anything within that time frame.
But if you have it in the contract it’s just a matter of that attorney.
Good luck!
The idea of negative publicity is good, to a point. Had a builder in my town that everyone thought had a good name…til he built a house 14" off level, then jacked it up and sold it anyway. House now has a value of - 14,000…yep, that’s a minus sign…I’m curious how you pay taxes on that tho…does that mean the state owes the owner money every year?
My point is simply this…as this guy did…simply filed another DBA and started building crap boxes under a new name. My NDN is dealing with him now. Part of his garage roof collapsed due to the shoddy build, and he didn’t strong back the roof supports. Used 2x4 instead of 2x6 and no strong backs. Only a matter of time before the roof begins to sag that way.
Don’t ever trust the builder to do it right. They will cut corners everywhere they can. Especially small local guys. I was on site throughout my build and the guys did a great job…that is until the cleanup crew threw out 5k worth of plumbing, luckily it was recovered.