Owner taking stuff out of house

[ziphash]

What is the name of your state? OH

My in-laws are in the middle of purchasing a home for us. The home had not been lived in for several years because the elderly couple had passed away and a relative had inherited it. Everything had been left exactly as it was (including food in the refrigerator, clothes in the closets, etc.).

The owner of the house was going to pay $2,000 to have cleaners come in and take everything out & throw it away. My in-laws wanted to buy the house as is because there are a lot of antiques, etc. in the house that we can sell to put towards fixing up the house. This was discussed with the realtor who discussed it with the owner. The owner agreed and a contract was signed for the house to be sold "as is" with a note on the contract stating "all personal property stays with the home."

The closing date is in two weeks. The owner has had the house for approximately six years and has never made an effort to clean it up. I spoke with the realtor to see if we could get the keys to go in and start cleaning the home this weekend (even though the house hasn't closed yet). Another realtor called today to say that the owner won't allow us to go in because he wants to go in the day before the closing and take out anything that might be of value (the one time he did take furniture out, he apparently found over $2,000 stuffed in it).

My father-in-law told the realtor that we were buying the house as is and the owner should not be allowed to go in and take anything out now. The realtor says "as is" just means the house & land it is on not anything that is in the house.

We believe that because the contract specifically states "personal property" that the owner cannot take anything out. Can anyone tell us who is right and what our options are?

 

[JETX]

I believe that you are in the 'right' here, but there may easily be a dispute over how to define "personal property" as it pertains to the property.

I suggest you attempt to get a key to the property and, if successful, videotape the ENTIRE contents of the property in order to document the contents.

There are other options:
1) You might get an attorney to help you with an injunction to prevent the removal.
2) You might consider refusing to close without the items or compensation. This has the risk of a lawsuit... and your filing a lis pendens to bar the sale.

In any case, I would suggest you start now and document the issues. Put everything in writing and insist that they do also. There is a strong chance that this will end up in some type of litigation.

Regretably, it does sound like you will need an attorney to help you and I suggest you get one ASAP.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? OH

My in-laws are in the middle of purchasing a home for us. The home had not been lived in for several years because the elderly couple had passed away and a relative had inherited it. Everything had been left exactly as it was (including food in the refrigerator, clothes in the closets, etc.).

The owner of the house was going to pay $2,000 to have cleaners come in and take everything out & throw it away. My in-laws wanted to buy the house as is because there are a lot of antiques, etc. in the house that we can sell to put towards fixing up the house. This was discussed with the realtor who discussed it with the owner. The owner agreed and a contract was signed for the house to be sold "as is" with a note on the contract stating "all personal property stays with the home."

The closing date is in two weeks. The owner has had the house for approximately six years and has never made an effort to clean it up. I spoke with the realtor to see if we could get the keys to go in and start cleaning the home this weekend (even though the house hasn't closed yet). Another realtor called today to say that the owner won't allow us to go in because he wants to go in the day before the closing and take out anything that might be of value (the one time he did take furniture out, he apparently found over $2,000 stuffed in it).

My father-in-law told the realtor that we were buying the house as is and the owner should not be allowed to go in and take anything out now. The realtor says "as is" just means the house & land it is on not anything that is in the house.

We believe that because the contract specifically states "personal property" that the owner cannot take anything out. Can anyone tell us who is right and what our options are?

**A: there is ambiguity in how the contract was written. The contract should have been specifc in referencing the personal property ie. the inventory of furnishings is included in the the sale of the property and the attached Exhibit A is hereby incorporated and made a part of the purchase contract.
EXHIBIT A
1.
2.
3
etc.
Regardless, if the contract mentioned the sale included all personal property, you have a cause of action.

 

[ziphash]

Thanks for both of your quick responses. I passed the advice onto my father-in-law. He said he will call the realtor Monday & tell him he will get an attorney if the owner is going to go into the house without one of us present. We are hoping that once our real estate agent is aware of what's going on he will stop the owner. I think that part of the problem is that a different agent was who spoke with the owner last & my father-in-law. She might not know the specifics of the contract and assume it was just left "as is" without the "personal property" agreement. She might just be giving the owner bad advice.

Thanks again.

 

[JETX]

"She might just be giving the owner bad advice"

Or, as noted in our responses, maybe your agreement is not written correctly!

Also, do NOT rely on the agent to do your work for you. Do as we have suggested.

 

[HomeGuru]

And why wait until Monday. Call the real estate agent now.