I am hoping to get some advice on whether or not to take the sellers, who sold me my home, and the contractor that they hired to small claims court.
At closing, the sellers had agreed to have repairs done to the home in order for us to agree to purchase the home. We moved in prior to the repairs being completed and we were "promised", and we have it in writing, that the repairs would be made satisfactory. Our attorney at closing had failed to hold any money in an escrow account until the repairs were made satisfactory. At the time of closing I was unaware that money could be held in escrow and only learned about this months after we had closed.
It has now been 11 months since we moved into the home and the repairs still have not been completed. The contractor finally returned in the last couple of days to complete the repairs and said that he is going to finish the job as cheaply as possible, which means installing a door that does not fit properly.
The basement door and the entire frame around the door had to be replaced because it became rotted due to a leaking pipe above it. The original door had a wider threshold, which butted up to the floor tile in the hallway. However, the cost of this "proper" door is much higher than the contractor had anticipated, so he picked up a much cheaper door from Menards that does not fit properly. The door the contractor is installing has a narrower threshold so it does not butt up to the tile floor in the room, resulting in a large gap. The contractor was attempting to rig it with another threshold that he cut in half to close the gap, making it look horrible and cheap on a $700,000+ home.
The sellers had also agreed to repair the flashing around a skylight that had became torn off in a wind storm. However, the contractor is now stating that he will not repair it because it is not leaking. It's not leaking currently because there's duck tape holding it together!!
The contractor underbid the entire job and to do the repairs properly would put him extremely over his budget for these repairs, so he is taking the cheap way out to complete the repairs and to move on. He estimated and was paid $625 for all of the repairs, but the cost of the proper door alone is $700 because it is special order. And the cost to repair the skylight properly is $500.
The agreement is between the seller and the contactor, but the seller is washing their hands of it stating that they paid the contractor in full for the repairs that they contracted him to do. However, since the agreement is between the seller and the contractor, I believe that I have to pursue the sellers in court since I do not have a binding contract with the contractor. My agreement is with the sellers who were supposed to get the repairs done to my satisfaction. The other issue is that the sellers now live in North Carolina and I live in Illinois, so I am unsure if small claims court rulings cross state lines.
How does the court side on items as I have described above? If I want repairs done properly and not done half-ass, am I required to pay the additional cost of the repairs? Or would the court agree with me in that they should meet my expectations in completing the repairs with the proper equipment so it's in the condition that I "expected" it to be in once completed?
Also, do I have any recourse against my attorney since she failed to hold money in an escrow account until these repairs were completed entirely? If I had known at closing that this was an available option, then I certainly would have agreed to it or requested it. The seller's real estate agent who I have contacted regarding this believes that the attorney should use their Errors & Omissions Insurance to pay for the repairs. However, my real estate agent claims that it is NOT considered an error that they failed to withhold money in an escrow account until the repairs were completed properly.
I know that there are no guarantees in small claims court, but I should not be stuck with paying the bill to have the repairs done properly that were promised to me, in writing, at closing.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond.
At closing, the sellers had agreed to have repairs done to the home in order for us to agree to purchase the home. We moved in prior to the repairs being completed and we were "promised", and we have it in writing, that the repairs would be made satisfactory. Our attorney at closing had failed to hold any money in an escrow account until the repairs were made satisfactory. At the time of closing I was unaware that money could be held in escrow and only learned about this months after we had closed.
It has now been 11 months since we moved into the home and the repairs still have not been completed. The contractor finally returned in the last couple of days to complete the repairs and said that he is going to finish the job as cheaply as possible, which means installing a door that does not fit properly.
The basement door and the entire frame around the door had to be replaced because it became rotted due to a leaking pipe above it. The original door had a wider threshold, which butted up to the floor tile in the hallway. However, the cost of this "proper" door is much higher than the contractor had anticipated, so he picked up a much cheaper door from Menards that does not fit properly. The door the contractor is installing has a narrower threshold so it does not butt up to the tile floor in the room, resulting in a large gap. The contractor was attempting to rig it with another threshold that he cut in half to close the gap, making it look horrible and cheap on a $700,000+ home.
The sellers had also agreed to repair the flashing around a skylight that had became torn off in a wind storm. However, the contractor is now stating that he will not repair it because it is not leaking. It's not leaking currently because there's duck tape holding it together!!
The contractor underbid the entire job and to do the repairs properly would put him extremely over his budget for these repairs, so he is taking the cheap way out to complete the repairs and to move on. He estimated and was paid $625 for all of the repairs, but the cost of the proper door alone is $700 because it is special order. And the cost to repair the skylight properly is $500.
The agreement is between the seller and the contactor, but the seller is washing their hands of it stating that they paid the contractor in full for the repairs that they contracted him to do. However, since the agreement is between the seller and the contractor, I believe that I have to pursue the sellers in court since I do not have a binding contract with the contractor. My agreement is with the sellers who were supposed to get the repairs done to my satisfaction. The other issue is that the sellers now live in North Carolina and I live in Illinois, so I am unsure if small claims court rulings cross state lines.
How does the court side on items as I have described above? If I want repairs done properly and not done half-ass, am I required to pay the additional cost of the repairs? Or would the court agree with me in that they should meet my expectations in completing the repairs with the proper equipment so it's in the condition that I "expected" it to be in once completed?
Also, do I have any recourse against my attorney since she failed to hold money in an escrow account until these repairs were completed entirely? If I had known at closing that this was an available option, then I certainly would have agreed to it or requested it. The seller's real estate agent who I have contacted regarding this believes that the attorney should use their Errors & Omissions Insurance to pay for the repairs. However, my real estate agent claims that it is NOT considered an error that they failed to withhold money in an escrow account until the repairs were completed properly.
I know that there are no guarantees in small claims court, but I should not be stuck with paying the bill to have the repairs done properly that were promised to me, in writing, at closing.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond.
