All Forum Posts by: Nick R.

Here's my dilemma, I need to replace a roof on one of my rentals and am debating on just paying a contractor to tear off the roof (it has a double layer of shingles) and cleaning up the mess, and then laying down the new shingles myself to save some $$$. I don't have much free time and figure it'd take longer to tear off the old roof than to shingle the new one... does that sound right? I've only helped family and friends here and there with roof work and this is my first time completely replacing a roof on one of my properties.

Thanks!

I should clarify, I'm wondering if the bottom of the boards should be glued down? Not the snap together grooves.

I bought this house in January and it was a complete rehab including the foundation. Now, the laminate floor is buckling in a couple of spots in the living room and am trying to figure out why. I had the foundation contractor come take a look and he surveyed the house using a ZIP level and there was very little variance in the house pertaining to the foundation. The general contractor I paid to install the flooring apparently did not glue the laminate floor boards and suspect this is the reason the flooring is buckling. The house has been vacant for awhile, so I have not had the A/C on and think the warmer summer air in the house has caused these unglued floor boards to buckle up? I need to figure out if the GC should have glued the floor boards in order to prevent a scenario like this? Is it common to NOT glue the laminate flooring??

Joe, I'll be more than happy to pass along the court date and time. I'm not sure though, if the reason you want to witness my courtroom drama is to see if you are right with your assessment and disagree with my perspective, or just want to see me squirm and wallow as the judge fry's me as I'm overly confident in the case?? ;p

The earnest money was $1000.

I'll add that the lender stated the only reason for their Credit denial was due to "excessive obligations". They never had an appraisal performed so they have no way of arguing that the house was over priced and if they thought the house was over priced then they never should have agreed to execute a sales contract and I'd assume that the judge will say that is poor due diligence on their part, no??. Bottom line is, they are in breach of contract.

I humbly disagree Joe.The executed contract clearly states that the buyer has 20 days to obtain credit approval and can terminate the contract within those 20 days and get back their earnest money. They terminated the contract on day 30.

I have been unable to get a hold of the buyers to resolve this so I am sending them a certified letter and informing them of my intent to take them to court if they continue to ignore this matter. I have copy and pasted the letter I intend to send them below and any feedback would be great.

Dear Mr. Xxxxxx:

On April 14, 2014, we agreed to terms and executed a Residential Contract regarding the sale of property located at 321 Main St Anytown, TX 75321. This is a legally binding agreement.

I am disputing your claim to release the earnest money to you. On the “Third Party Addendum for Credit Approval”, we agreed that you had 20 days after the effective date of the contract to give me written notice should you not be able to obtain Credit Approval. Twenty days from April 14, 2014 meant that you had until May4, 2014 to terminate the contract and receive the earnest money. I received your notice, “Notice of Buyer’s Termination Contract”, on May 14, 2014. This was ten days beyond the 20 day period we had agreed upon. Please note the first paragraph in the “Third Party Addendum for Credit Approval” where it explicitly states the following:

“If Buyer cannot obtain Credit Approval, Buyer may give written notice to Seller within 20 days after the effective date of this contract and this contract will terminate and the earnest money will be refunded to Buyer.”

This clearly outlines the time frame in which you had in order to complete and obtain Credit Approval as well as whom the release of earnest money would go, should you not be able to obtain Credit Approval within the agreed upon 20 days. You did not fulfill this requirement and are in breach of contract.

Also, on the “Notice of Buyer’s Termination Contract”, you checked box “(2): Buyer cannot obtain Credit Approval in accordance with the Third Party Financing Addendum for Credit Approval to the contract.” You also checked box “(3): the property does not satisfy the lenders underwriting requirements for the loan under Paragraph 4A(1) of the contract.” Not only is that claim absolutely false, I made the repairs that you requested in the repair amendment and have contractor invoices to support this. In addition, you never had an appraisal, the property is insurable, and on the “Statement of Credit Denial, Termination, or Change”, the lender declares that the one and only reason for your Credit Denial is “Excessive obligations”. The lender does not make a single reference to the property being the reason for Credit Denial. There is simply no evidence to support your claim.

This letter is to let you know that I expect you to immediately call me at 123-321-4567 or email me at [email protected] OR you may contact Jane Doe at AnyTown Title, 123-456-9876, to sign my “Release of Earnest Money”. If I do not hear from you or you do not sign the “Release of Earnest Money” to me by Friday June 6th, 2014, I will have no other alternative but to file a claim in small claims court to recover the earnest money. Should this matter continue to court, I intend to ask for an additional amount for compensation due to court costs, time off of work, as well as negligence on your part by breaching our agreed upon contract.

I have enclosed a copy of the contract and highlighted the pertinent parts which I referenced above for your review.

Sincerely,

Xxxx Xxxxxx

Thank you Wayne for pointing that stipulation in the Finance Addendum in your last post. We had "20" days specified in that blank. Hence, as you said, they likely are trying to state that "the property does not satisfy lender requirements", even though they never had an appraisal or any proof to back this up.

It does say that, "This contract is subject to Buyer being approved for the financing described in the attached Third Party Financing Addendum for Credit Approval." They attached the pre-approval. After the option period had expired, they notified me of the denial of their loan request. In the "Notice of buyer's termination of contract", they terminated the contract due to "Buyer cannot obtain Credit Approval in accordance with the Third Party Financing Addendum for Credit Approval to the contract." AND they checked box 3 which states, "the Property does not satisfy the lenders' underwriting requirements for the loan under Paragraph 4A(1) of the contract." That is false, the property satisfied the lenders' requirements, they canceled the appraisal after they found out they were denied the loan due to them buying a new vehicle, they have no proof that the lender denied the loan based on the property.

They would get their earnest money back had they terminated the contract during the option period and I would not be fighting this. They terminated the contract AFTER the option period had expired and are now trying to saying that the lender denied the loan based on the property in addition to them no longer being able to get approved.

Hope this makes sense?