I would appreciate any insights into whether I have legal recourse regarding home repairs costs incurred during my bid to purchase a REO property that was subsequently cancelled by the selling bank (GMAC) due to a closing extension request. The basic facts are provided below. I have also included several inquiries regarding whether due care was exercised by various professionals involved with the transaction and whether the "Hold Harmless Agreement" was appropriately enforced if of interest to respond to.
• My offer was accepted by selling bank (REO property). My financing was "approved" by my lender pending appraisal.
• Selling bank agreed to complete several repairs, including lower level floors replacement, following transaction with initial bidder whose transaction fell-through after the repairs were cited in appraisal.
• My real estate agent suggested that I choose my own flooring material. I accepted the option and selected hardwood over the laminate.
• My agreement for out-of-pocket costs, as stated in the Hold Harmless Agreement required by the selling bank's representative (Kendra Todd Group), was to pay thecosts over the initial agreed-upon repairs allowance. Issues that resulted are as follows:
• General contractor (Probitas Construction-Seatac, WA - not a floors specialist) attempted to install floors without any knowledge of acclimatization period required (for both laminate & hardwood).
• General contractor installed subflooring without following instructions on materials box or per general industry standards (as later asserted by a floors specialist).
• Contractor failed to either estimate or provide exact documentation in writing or verbally of my costs incurred above and beyond agreed-upon repairs and instead billed me an additional $1.1k , again with no explanation of how costs were derived ( i.e., I supplied floors materials but needed to know detail of materials and installation costs in order to determine if I was being fairly charged above repairs allowance).
• To date, I have paid $3k for the full costs of the hardwood material instead of the agreed-upon difference of the materials and installation labor over the repairs allowance.
Selling bank cancelled my "transaction" (later learned that I had no signed "contract" with REO bank) after the floors delay and my appraisal issues resulted in applying for a closing extension. Here are my legal questions:
• Do I have any recourse to be reimbursed for the costs of the flooring? I have no active Hold Harmless Agreement on second general contractor who completed the installation. I only signed an agreement with the first contractor who ultimately quit the project. Even considering the status of this agreement, can I argue "Unjust Enrichment" since I paid for the floors and did not request the transaction cancellation?
• Should I pursue BBB and contractor complaints against the general contractor for accepting and performing a job that he was unqualified to do and for failing to substantiate the project costs?
• Should I pursue professional complaints against the selling bank's representative, Kendra Todd Group, for insisting that the unqualified general contractor be allowed to continue with the floors project even after all agreed that he lacked the standard training and experience? Does seller's rep. have legal right to use knowingly unqualified contractor and still force buyer to sign Hold Harmless Agreement?
• Did my realtor (Keller Williams-Everett, WA) act fairly and reasonably to suggest that I act on the option to upgrade the floors given the following:
(a) Before I had reached escrow or resolved the appraisal contingency on my financing, the general contractor requested additional $1.1k payment without any substantiation of costs and she stated that he was not required to provide such documentation to me as his contract was with the seller's realtor. She further stated that I should pay the costs ASAP or risk being fined by the selling bank if the transaction closed late.
(b) My status as not being under "contract" with the selling bank was not discussed (still researching if it was disclosed in signed forms). Should I have read my transaction documents more thoroughly, or was my realtor inexperienced and uninformed about REOs? We never had a discussion about this lack of "contract" and inherent risk. The only risk she mentioned was the possible late fees if we closed late.
• My offer was accepted by selling bank (REO property). My financing was "approved" by my lender pending appraisal.
• Selling bank agreed to complete several repairs, including lower level floors replacement, following transaction with initial bidder whose transaction fell-through after the repairs were cited in appraisal.
• My real estate agent suggested that I choose my own flooring material. I accepted the option and selected hardwood over the laminate.
• My agreement for out-of-pocket costs, as stated in the Hold Harmless Agreement required by the selling bank's representative (Kendra Todd Group), was to pay thecosts over the initial agreed-upon repairs allowance. Issues that resulted are as follows:
• General contractor (Probitas Construction-Seatac, WA - not a floors specialist) attempted to install floors without any knowledge of acclimatization period required (for both laminate & hardwood).
• General contractor installed subflooring without following instructions on materials box or per general industry standards (as later asserted by a floors specialist).
• Contractor failed to either estimate or provide exact documentation in writing or verbally of my costs incurred above and beyond agreed-upon repairs and instead billed me an additional $1.1k , again with no explanation of how costs were derived ( i.e., I supplied floors materials but needed to know detail of materials and installation costs in order to determine if I was being fairly charged above repairs allowance).
• To date, I have paid $3k for the full costs of the hardwood material instead of the agreed-upon difference of the materials and installation labor over the repairs allowance.
Selling bank cancelled my "transaction" (later learned that I had no signed "contract" with REO bank) after the floors delay and my appraisal issues resulted in applying for a closing extension. Here are my legal questions:
• Do I have any recourse to be reimbursed for the costs of the flooring? I have no active Hold Harmless Agreement on second general contractor who completed the installation. I only signed an agreement with the first contractor who ultimately quit the project. Even considering the status of this agreement, can I argue "Unjust Enrichment" since I paid for the floors and did not request the transaction cancellation?
• Should I pursue BBB and contractor complaints against the general contractor for accepting and performing a job that he was unqualified to do and for failing to substantiate the project costs?
• Should I pursue professional complaints against the selling bank's representative, Kendra Todd Group, for insisting that the unqualified general contractor be allowed to continue with the floors project even after all agreed that he lacked the standard training and experience? Does seller's rep. have legal right to use knowingly unqualified contractor and still force buyer to sign Hold Harmless Agreement?
• Did my realtor (Keller Williams-Everett, WA) act fairly and reasonably to suggest that I act on the option to upgrade the floors given the following:
(a) Before I had reached escrow or resolved the appraisal contingency on my financing, the general contractor requested additional $1.1k payment without any substantiation of costs and she stated that he was not required to provide such documentation to me as his contract was with the seller's realtor. She further stated that I should pay the costs ASAP or risk being fined by the selling bank if the transaction closed late.
(b) My status as not being under "contract" with the selling bank was not discussed (still researching if it was disclosed in signed forms). Should I have read my transaction documents more thoroughly, or was my realtor inexperienced and uninformed about REOs? We never had a discussion about this lack of "contract" and inherent risk. The only risk she mentioned was the possible late fees if we closed late.
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