ADJUSTMENTS AT CLOSING

[revoke321]

I am in New Jersey and purchased a home, closing was on October 2, 2000. At the closing no mention was made by my lawyer or the sellers concerning money due for oil remaining in the tank at closing. The contract states under ADJUSTMENTS AT CLOSING: Taxes, rents and rent securities, interest on mortgages and municipal assessments being assumed, sewer service charges, municipal utilities, fuel oil, bottled fuel, condominium dues and maintenance charges, related club or recreation dues, and the like, if any, shall be apportioned and adjusted as of the date of closing of title.
I received a letter from my attorney, letter is dated October 23, 2000, stating: Mr. XXXXXX's attorney forgot to send us the oil reading for the closing. I am enclosing a copy of the oil reading I received from Mr. XXXXX. This is the amount of oil, currently in the oil tank. Please make out a check in the amount of $334.88 made payable to Mr. XXXX, and return to me. Once I receive it, I will mail it to Mr. XXXX.
Attached to the letter is a tank reading dated 8/15/2000.
Due to unforseen circumstances I cannot afford to pay him this money. The seller has, since the closing, moved to Florida.
This past week I received a call from my attorney telling me that the seller is coming back to New Jersey to sue me for this money. I simply do not have this money. If he does, in fact, come to New Jersey to sue me, do I have a chance at winning this case. And, can he also sue me for his traveling expenses to file this suit?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HomeGuru]

I view this as more of a nuisance claim since the amount of money is so small. The transaction is closed already so if the attorney for the Seller forgot to submit a bill, tough luck. If he does sue, he will file in small claims court. All you have to do is submit the closing statement as evidence and testify that the transaction has been closed and there was no agreement for you to reimburse the Seller for the oil.
Your attorney should have told you this without charging you.

 

[David J. Miller]

I'm a mortgage consultant and close on lot's of homes all the time. Occassionally mistakes are made and money is not collected. We of course will always make at least one attempt at collecting the funds but we know the person can simply tell us where to go. In that case we eat the cost.

If you were interested in doing the right thing though, you could contact the attorney and request a payment plan since you can't afford it. See mistakes are sometimes made in the buyers favor and sometimes not. When they are not made in the buyers favor, we will always remedy the problem. In other words, we do not go back on our word when we know it is the right thing to do.

Now I shall grab hold of my ladder and climb down off my soap box.

 

[HomeGuru]

Wow, I did not know that your soapbox was that high. Or maybe you just used a three foot ladder.