Hi all,
It's my first time buying a property with my gf and unfortunately I'm already stuck in a sticky situation. Hoping that someone could offer some insights and advice, although I am already seeing my lawyer next Mon to discuss.
In March 2015, we made an offer to purchase a condo (with 2 owners) under my name. In the following months, we did the usual stuff: paid the option to purchase (1%), the other 4% as deposit, and we were going to complete the purchase today.
Unfortunately, our lawyer found out that one of the 2 owners was bankrupt (he was made a bankrupt in mid May, which was after our lawyers had run the initial check back in April, so no one on our side was aware until today). So, the purchase was halted today, which was a huge disappointment. Not only that, I heard from the lawyer that we may not be able to get back the 1% option to purchase fee that we paid initially, as the owner might not be able to pay back. This is a significant sum to us (close to 10K?), and it also kind of sucks that even though we did everything right, we may stand to lose quite a lot of money (plus lawyer's fee as well). We're looking at a potential loss of more than 10K.
The other sticky thing is that currently, only one of the owners have been made a bankrupt; the other owner may or may not be made a bankrupt, although it seems that he is already in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
I'm just puzzled as to why there is nothing in the law to protect us buyers? Does it mean that in the 3 months between buying the option to purchase and completing the sale, we buyers are totally susceptible to this kind of stunt being pulled by the seller? He was made a bankrupt a month ago and did not tell us, so we were just sitting there thinking that all was good. This hiccup could also cost us months of rental income, as we are stuck waiting for the OA (Official Assignor) to come in and decide to sell us the house or not. And the OA may not come in as one of the 2 owners is not a bankrupt yet.
This is kind of a rant but hopefully also serves as a PSA for potential homeowners here who might be as clueless as I am.
Thank you so much for reading and appreciate any insights or advice if you have!
It's my first time buying a property with my gf and unfortunately I'm already stuck in a sticky situation. Hoping that someone could offer some insights and advice, although I am already seeing my lawyer next Mon to discuss.
In March 2015, we made an offer to purchase a condo (with 2 owners) under my name. In the following months, we did the usual stuff: paid the option to purchase (1%), the other 4% as deposit, and we were going to complete the purchase today.
Unfortunately, our lawyer found out that one of the 2 owners was bankrupt (he was made a bankrupt in mid May, which was after our lawyers had run the initial check back in April, so no one on our side was aware until today). So, the purchase was halted today, which was a huge disappointment. Not only that, I heard from the lawyer that we may not be able to get back the 1% option to purchase fee that we paid initially, as the owner might not be able to pay back. This is a significant sum to us (close to 10K?), and it also kind of sucks that even though we did everything right, we may stand to lose quite a lot of money (plus lawyer's fee as well). We're looking at a potential loss of more than 10K.
The other sticky thing is that currently, only one of the owners have been made a bankrupt; the other owner may or may not be made a bankrupt, although it seems that he is already in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
I'm just puzzled as to why there is nothing in the law to protect us buyers? Does it mean that in the 3 months between buying the option to purchase and completing the sale, we buyers are totally susceptible to this kind of stunt being pulled by the seller? He was made a bankrupt a month ago and did not tell us, so we were just sitting there thinking that all was good. This hiccup could also cost us months of rental income, as we are stuck waiting for the OA (Official Assignor) to come in and decide to sell us the house or not. And the OA may not come in as one of the 2 owners is not a bankrupt yet.
This is kind of a rant but hopefully also serves as a PSA for potential homeowners here who might be as clueless as I am.
Thank you so much for reading and appreciate any insights or advice if you have!
i think i alrdy said alot such that the TS should know what i mean if he go back and infer his own experience.
