Chronological event of a s and p agreement
Signed the contract with a private seller
Found unauthorised construction and maintenance issue with the property during due diligence period
Sent a letter through my lawyer to rectify the issues which met no reply
The owner personally called me after a few days and told me the work is in progress and expressed the desire to sell the property to me. We both went to the property and he showed me some of the work he already completed. He assured me he will be able to complete some of the work but didn’t specify which tasks.
He agreed to call me on a set date and I told my lawyer about the latest development and my lawyer sent a letter asking him to provide us a list of work he would be able to complete, which also met with no reply
On the set date a real estate agent called and asked whether I would be interested in a property and I asked for the street address. The property turned out to be the same property I had under contract.
When I called the owner he told me the sale and purchase agreement had expired and he expected a higher price (means a new contract) for the property which I refused. My lawyer confirmed by that time the settlement date was over.
I again contacted my lawyer and she was told they are cancelling the contract and it seems the owner’s lawyer sent a letter later to this effect later
So my questions are
1. Does the Sale and purchase agreement expire if the deal doesn’t go through as per the schedule in the contract? If so, whose responsibility is it to ask for an extension to keep the contract alive? Did the private seller act legally by listing the property with a real estate agent while he had a contract with me? What were the legal options in front of me if the deal closed illegally? We want to use this as a steep learning curve in terms of understanding the legal issues associated with sale and purchase agreement.
Can someone comment on the experience we undergone.
Signed the contract with a private seller
Found unauthorised construction and maintenance issue with the property during due diligence period
Sent a letter through my lawyer to rectify the issues which met no reply
The owner personally called me after a few days and told me the work is in progress and expressed the desire to sell the property to me. We both went to the property and he showed me some of the work he already completed. He assured me he will be able to complete some of the work but didn’t specify which tasks.
He agreed to call me on a set date and I told my lawyer about the latest development and my lawyer sent a letter asking him to provide us a list of work he would be able to complete, which also met with no reply
On the set date a real estate agent called and asked whether I would be interested in a property and I asked for the street address. The property turned out to be the same property I had under contract.
When I called the owner he told me the sale and purchase agreement had expired and he expected a higher price (means a new contract) for the property which I refused. My lawyer confirmed by that time the settlement date was over.
I again contacted my lawyer and she was told they are cancelling the contract and it seems the owner’s lawyer sent a letter later to this effect later
So my questions are
1. Does the Sale and purchase agreement expire if the deal doesn’t go through as per the schedule in the contract? If so, whose responsibility is it to ask for an extension to keep the contract alive? Did the private seller act legally by listing the property with a real estate agent while he had a contract with me? What were the legal options in front of me if the deal closed illegally? We want to use this as a steep learning curve in terms of understanding the legal issues associated with sale and purchase agreement.
Can someone comment on the experience we undergone.
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