Buyer wants to get out of contract on Coop

talk to your lawyer....

I did, but I'd like to know different scenarios on this type of situation.

Yes, you must speak with your attorney immediately.

If papers have been signed and money has exchanged hands, then it will be very difficult for the buyer to recoup his deposit. He would have to sue you, and that costs. Could he 'intentionally' fail the board interview? Sure. But if you can demonstrate bad action on his part, he won't have a very easy time convincing a judge he deserves his deposit back.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but save ALL correspondence on this matter. Make detailed notes of every conversation, logging dates and times.

And again, speak to your attorney ASAP.

Good luck!

Thanks, Squid.

Have there ever cases where the buyer gets away with such a crime?

Best to pose that question to your attorney.

Oh, one word of advice--I wouldn't start throwing around the 'c' word (I'm talking 'crime' here, not that other 'c' word...) just yet; premature accusations are never a good thing.

bad faith is hard to prove for intentional failing of a board interview....

Why not find out why he wants to get out...maybe he lost his job, is relocating, marriage, divorce..talk to your agent and maybe it can be worked out. offer a lower price.

Julia is right. 'tis not a crime to break a contract. The system is designed to permit it where breaking the contract is most economically efficient. Take morality out of it and just treat this as the business transaction it is. If you personalize it, you will suffer pain and end up worse off than if you just tried to roll with it and make the best of a bad situation.

Boards can be a bitch.

Remember all the horror stories we heard on the way up about buyers having deals, then not, during 2003-2007 yada yada. well now its the same way for sellers. It's just business, develop a strategy, drop the emotion, do the best you can. good luck..peace

This is just anecdotal, but I heard of a situation where the board committee knew what the buyer was trying to do, and approved the sale.

As everybody's said, leave it to the lawyers. Justice would be the buyers paying for their mistake with the whole deposit. Then there's the "give a stranger a large gift of money" tack.

bjw2103, might be able to save you.

Perhaps speak with your board president.

yes, would be twisted (but good for you) if board approved because of the buyer's threat

If the board approves the package -- and you have the deposit and signed contract --- they can still walk away and while you lose months and months and go back to square one -- you likely keep the deposit...

"such a crime"... GMAFB.

>>This is just anecdotal, but I heard of a situation where the board committee knew what the buyer was trying to do, and approved the sale.<<

This sounds more apocryphal than anecdotal--I cannot imagine a board passing a buyer they KNOW doesn't want to be there. Talk about potential problem neighbor... But I imagine stranger things have happened.

Sound advice you're getting from above posters. Like they say, best to speak with your attorney and see what can be done. And do treat as the business matter it is. You really don't want your property tied up in any extended litigation because you won't be able to sell it until a resolution. For your own edification, look at your contract of sale.

It's unpleasant to have to go through this.

Hope things go better than expected.

You can only take it one step at a time. Make sure you or your lawyer document everything. Ultimately, if he fails the board interview, it'll be an uphill climb to prove it was intentional/sabotage on his behalf and in bad-faith, but - the deposit should be with your attorney, so you can always make that claim and keep the deposit tied up (assuming it is a legitimate claim). Then it'll be up to either the courts to decide who gets the deposit or (more likely) the parties will reach agreement as to how much should be released.

how long ago was the contract signed and when is closing set?

Reason they want to walk away is key. If lost job or finances got hit, then getting rejected by board clearly is not bad faith. And its hard to prove. Assume you have financials or other info from buyer, but if they now come and show how much portfolio is down, etc., and do very little to sell themselves, then not much you can do. I would think best option might be to negotiate a broken deal fee of maybe 1/2 deposit and you get to put apartment back on market asap and get some cash.

The buyer is not backing out due to a financial situation. I have lost time and expenses due to the buyer changing his mind and should be duly compensated. Also, this is a different market than 2 months ago. Thanks for your responses.

Show no mercy. A deal is a deal.

Not saying to show mercy, and not saying its fair. A deal is a deal, but its contingent on board approval. Certainly try and take a hard line and get full deposit, but don't be surprised if buyer doesn't "sell" himself to the board and gets rejected. At that point, buyer has all the leverage and there is little you can do other than sue (but he gets his money back in the interim). Right now, you have more leverage than he does, so you can negotiate from a position of strength.

Not unheard of. My coworker just recently "intentially" failed the coop board interview. They didn't do it blatantly but they basically went in the interview real "cocky" that everyone on the board should feel proud that he was planning on purchasing in the building. He then proceeded to interview the board and questioning some of their decisions and how he would do it differently. He told the board he plans on being active and wants to be a board president. He was putting 50% down and him and his wife had good jobs in healthcare. The coop board rejected them the next day after the interview and didnt give a reason.