In This Issue - The House Problem
I'm posting this update here (and in a couple other places) for everyone who still doesn't know, because I'm tired of going over it.
Last Monday - 7/20/09 - Josh and I came home to find a Notice to Vacate posted to our door. Over the next few days we were able to determine that our former landlord John Newell (henceforth referred to as the Douche) failed to tell us that the condo had been foreclosed. Chase Manhattan had purchased the condo along with several other properties in a bulk sale, and hired Brown Real Estate Group to manage the clearing out process. The realty company informed us that the bank would offer $500 if we were out by 8/5. We found this to be absurdly funny. They informed us that we could counter, and we did - $2000 and an extension of time.
The bank accepted the counter offer and Brown Real Estate sent us a contract. Josh read it over and immediately noticed that a page was missing. He sent it to Russ (thanks again, Russ) who noticed several other ugly provisions hidden in official language. Josh called the realty company back and pointed out the missing page, as well as the absurd conditions of the contract. He told them that in its current state, we would not sign the document· The young woman we had been working with said that we could take the deal and the contract as-is or walk away with nothing. When Josh still refused to sign, she hung up on him.
We are now in the process of contacting a lawyer and finding out what, exactly, our rights are. We are considering selling off the appliances and light fixtures when we move in order to get the money the Douche owes us (for last month's rent and the security deposit). The Douche has changed his phone number, and we have no idea how to get a hold of him. We've had a couple offers to help move, including the loan of a truck and trailer, for which we are very grateful. On one hand, we want to get out of here as quickly as possible. On the other hand, if we have the right to stay longer and build up a savings, should we? We're still debating what we want to do, and we still need more information. We've already begun looking at apartments, and hopefully a solution will be forthcoming.
Last Monday - 7/20/09 - Josh and I came home to find a Notice to Vacate posted to our door. Over the next few days we were able to determine that our former landlord John Newell (henceforth referred to as the Douche) failed to tell us that the condo had been foreclosed. Chase Manhattan had purchased the condo along with several other properties in a bulk sale, and hired Brown Real Estate Group to manage the clearing out process. The realty company informed us that the bank would offer $500 if we were out by 8/5. We found this to be absurdly funny. They informed us that we could counter, and we did - $2000 and an extension of time.
The bank accepted the counter offer and Brown Real Estate sent us a contract. Josh read it over and immediately noticed that a page was missing. He sent it to Russ (thanks again, Russ) who noticed several other ugly provisions hidden in official language. Josh called the realty company back and pointed out the missing page, as well as the absurd conditions of the contract. He told them that in its current state, we would not sign the document· The young woman we had been working with said that we could take the deal and the contract as-is or walk away with nothing. When Josh still refused to sign, she hung up on him.
We are now in the process of contacting a lawyer and finding out what, exactly, our rights are. We are considering selling off the appliances and light fixtures when we move in order to get the money the Douche owes us (for last month's rent and the security deposit). The Douche has changed his phone number, and we have no idea how to get a hold of him. We've had a couple offers to help move, including the loan of a truck and trailer, for which we are very grateful. On one hand, we want to get out of here as quickly as possible. On the other hand, if we have the right to stay longer and build up a savings, should we? We're still debating what we want to do, and we still need more information. We've already begun looking at apartments, and hopefully a solution will be forthcoming.