We purchased a home over a year ago and to simplify the story, I've included a timeline
- began negotiations in Nov/Dec of 2008, their realtor was husband of owner of house (implies awareness of laws) and current resident as wife packed up her things and moved to FL - wife wanted to sell. Place looked like a bachelor pad.
- agreed on price in Feb/March of 2009
- sent over P&S to be signed at end of March 2009
- Original closing date of end of April 2009
- seller (or husband) got cold feet and desired to back out of deal and stopped communication. We had a baby coming in July so weren't willing to pick up home hunting again so held them to the closing date.
- one week before the closing we sent another letter expecting to see them at closing. They sent us a letter saying they wouldn't sell. We sent them a letter saying that they must perform otherwise we'll take them to court for specific performance.
- they said they needed another 30 days. This forced us to spend another $400 to extend our mortgage rate to the new closing. We never agreed to the extension but our attorney told us that they "could" take up to another 30 days without having to formalize the extension - Is this true?
- The P&S did state "as-is"
- Since moving in we've found many flaws and ones that the inspector said he was unable to discover because he was prohibited from moving existing structures - "it's a visual inspection (i.e. things can't be moved)" even though we had homeowner approval to move whatever we wanted.
- We've found that the insulation and drop ceiling in the basement ceiling is coated with mouse urine, feces, mold, etc. The walls of the finished basement were filled with sand and nuts. The sill plate of the home is terrible shape and nearly 1/2 of the perimeter will need replacement. In some spots, there is no sill plate making it extremely easy for the rodents to enter. We are currently dealing with the problem. We asked about mice during the inspection and he said "sure, it's New England and we live near a farm, but nothing unusual." We've found nearly 12 dead mice in the walls and a couple in the tiles above the drop ceiling. We've captured 4 this year and still hear 1 or two roaming around.
- The floor under the washing machine is completely rotted (see into the basement) and covered by 1/2" piece of plywood and a washing machine during inspection.
- There was a bunch of electrical work done by previous owners husband(s) and I'm not sure if any of it is to code.
My question(s),
1) Can we sue for the $$ required to unofficially extend the closing date?
2) Can we sue for the cost to replace the sill plates and clean out the basement? I'm not sure if this is a "health hazard" or not.
3) Does the as-is give them the ability to walk away freely?
TIA and Happy Thanksgiving