Weird Situation with my Buyers (long) - Posted by Jerry
Posted by Jerry on February 18, 2002 at 11:31:06:
I sold a house on CFD about eight months ago to a nice couple, and they’ve been paying me in advance every month. They’re trying to clean-up their credit and have done so well that they were recently approved to refinance the house and cash me out. I received a request for a payoff statement from their lender about six weeks ago. When I spoke to the lender’s rep, she said they’ve been approved for the loan and should close on February 15th.
I hadn’t been informed about a closing date by the first week in February, so I called the lender to find out what was going on. She was perplexed. It seems she has been trying to contact them to set-up an appraisal, and the buyer’s haven’t returned her calls for four weeks.
Wondering what was going on, I drove by the house this weekend. I was surprised to find the house in the midst of some fairly major improvements, with a dumpster in the driveway. The front living-room blinds were open so I parked the car and walked up.
All the furniture is gone from the house, at least in the living and family room. There is a scafold in the living room because the vaulted ceiling is being replastered, the dumpster is full of wallboard and some doors, there’s new wiring being put in through cuts in the walls, there’s a new garage door, and many other improvements.
I’m glad to see the house being improved, since I still own the deed. But it seems strange that the buyers were going try to refinance the house while it was torn-up and being rehabbed. It was also stated in the CFD that any major improvements must be approved by me, in writing. I wasn’t contacted. But I would have allowed these improvements anyway.
It appears they aren’t living in the house now. I’m hoping they’re living with the husband’s mother while improvements are going on. The phone number I have for them isn’t being answered anymore, and I don’t know the mother’s info.
But, here’s the concern. You may recall the police department contacted me about the husband a month ago regarding an investigation of some sort. He’s a bounty hunter, and it had something to do with that. I’ve heard nothing since then. But it is possible that the buyers have abandoned the house, half way through a fairly major rehab. Who knows, maybe the house has been sitting like this for weeks. Maybe the buyers either skipped town, or are in jail?
Their next payment is due by March 1st. If it shows-up, I guess all is well. But I don’t want to wait until then to find-out if I have a future foreclosure on my hands. However, I don’t have the legal right to step-in and get involved, as long as they are current on their payments.
All I can think of to do, is to drive-by the house daily and see if anyone shows up at the house, or if it appears work is progressing. I don’t want to talk to the neighbors, in case it would cause the buyers problems by me poking around behind their back in their neighborhood.
Any advice?