My wife and I sold our home earlier in the summer in Dallas. The buyers granted us a leaseback until Aug 11, with nothing more than a $10 deposit. They had missed on several houses, and were willing to do this. Our new home was not going to be vacated until Aug 1, so this was a good situation for us.

Here's the problem. On 7/24, one of the AC units in the house we sold stopped working, making 1/2 of the house hot as hell. We notified the buyers of this issue. They have done absolutely nothing to address the issue. I brought an AC specialist out to the house, hoping that it just needed additional coolant. This was done on my own dime, which I wasn't obligated to do.

Turns out that they need either a new fan motor, or potentially a new system. They are telling the AC company that I brought out that I will pay for all repairs, which absolutely isn't happening.

My question is this: can I pursue legal action against the buyers for leaving us without AC for 18 days in Dallas during the summer? I certainly don't owe them anything, and they are being horrible about the whole situation. This is normal wear and tear. We had an AC inspection and report done prior to closing that they accepted.

Thanks for any commentary.

aggiedadofpanda said:

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My wife and I sold our home earlier in the summer in Dallas. The buyers granted us a leaseback until Aug 11, with nothing more than a $10 deposit. They had missed on several houses, and were willing to do this. Our new home was not going to be vacated until Aug 1, so this was a good situation for us.

Here's the problem. On 7/24, one of the AC units in the house we sold stopped working, making 1/2 of the house hot as hell. We notified the buyers of this issue. They have done absolutely nothing to address the issue. I brought an AC specialist out to the house, hoping that it just needed additional coolant. This was done on my own dime, which I wasn't obligated to do.

Turns out that they need either a new fan motor, or potentially a new system. They are telling the AC company that I brought out that I will pay for all repairs, which absolutely isn't happening.

My question is this: can I pursue legal action against the buyers for leaving us without AC for 18 days in Dallas during the summer? I certainly don't owe them anything, and they are being horrible about the whole situation. This is normal wear and tear. We had an AC inspection and report done prior to closing that they accepted.

Thanks for any commentary.

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That is a bit of a pickle.... When did you close? Did you sign a special lease? Or was it the standard TREC lease (Link Here)?

If it's the latter, this is definitely vague but I've always read it as Tenant/Seller is responsible with the repairs and maintenance section. But the conditions clause references the original contract which would outline better understandings of the issue with the systems (for example: does it say as-is? Was there an amendment? or seller agrees to fix x/y/z prior to closing?)

I think the tough hanging point was the fact that there was a recent AC inspection that was accepted by the buyer. That report might say what/if anything was wrong with the system?

It's a bit of a catch 22 it seems and best thing I or any agent could advise would be to recommend discussing with someone on the legal side and seeing what they think and propose.

Also I would definitely work to avoid seriously rocking the boat between both parties given you are out in 7-ish days. Not sure wouldn't be worth the added strain on top of moving and having to handle the family while doing it. Might just work to leave the property earlier (if you wife is like mine and would be a PITA until she got AC so I'd just stay at a hotel...)

Red Pear DFW Luke said:

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aggiedadofpanda said:

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My wife and I sold our home earlier in the summer in Dallas. The buyers granted us a leaseback until Aug 11, with nothing more than a $10 deposit. They had missed on several houses, and were willing to do this. Our new home was not going to be vacated until Aug 1, so this was a good situation for us.

Here's the problem. On 7/24, one of the AC units in the house we sold stopped working, making 1/2 of the house hot as hell. We notified the buyers of this issue. They have done absolutely nothing to address the issue. I brought an AC specialist out to the house, hoping that it just needed additional coolant. This was done on my own dime, which I wasn't obligated to do.

Turns out that they need either a new fan motor, or potentially a new system. They are telling the AC company that I brought out that I will pay for all repairs, which absolutely isn't happening.

My question is this: can I pursue legal action against the buyers for leaving us without AC for 18 days in Dallas during the summer? I certainly don't owe them anything, and they are being horrible about the whole situation. This is normal wear and tear. We had an AC inspection and report done prior to closing that they accepted.

Thanks for any commentary.

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That is a bit of a pickle.... When did you close? Did you sign a special lease? Or was it the standard TREC lease (Link Here)?

If it's the latter, this is definitely vague but I've always read it as Tenant/Seller is responsible with the repairs and maintenance section. But the conditions clause references the original contract which would outline better understandings of the issue with the systems (for example: does it say as-is? Was there an amendment? or seller agrees to fix x/y/z prior to closing?)

I think the tough hanging point was the fact that there was a recent AC inspection that was accepted by the buyer. That report might say what/if anything was wrong with the system?

It's a bit of a catch 22 it seems and best thing I or any agent could advise would be to recommend discussing with someone on the legal side and seeing what they think and propose.

Also I would definitely work to avoid seriously rocking the boat between both parties given you are out in 7-ish days. Not sure wouldn't be worth the added strain on top of moving and having to handle the family while doing it. Might just work to leave the property earlier (if you wife is like mine and would be a PITA until she got AC so I'd just stay at a hotel...)

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Standard TREC Sellers Leaseback. I didn't take a baseball bat to the unit, it's just been 109 for months so the motor seized up on an 18 year old unit. It was in fine working condition in May, when we added coolant.

I got pissed at them asking for us to pay last night and sent a text saying we weren't paying for it. I have a real estate attorney that has looked at everything and says we are under no obligation to pay for anything. I'm more angry at the fact that it's now been 10 days in 100 degree heat and they aren't acting with any urgency to fix it.

Tangential question and sorry if it's ignorant or dumb, but why are these leasebacks a thing? Why couldn't/wouldn't you just set the agreed upon date as the closing date?

Interesting scenario with two options (assuming its a fan motor only).

First option, pay to have the fan motor replaced. A condenser fan motor is roughly $100.00. Labor to install maybe $150 and trip charge, maybe $125. You're out $375.00 for the fan motor work, the a/c system works and you did a solid for the buyer, who's money you took earlier in the summer.

Second option is to blow it off, live the next several days in one half of the house and leave when your tenancy is up. Are you and the new owner going to get in a squabble over less than $500? Some things just aren't worth the waste of energy and this sounds like one of those things.

If it turns into a pissing match, you have the inspection report that everything was in good working condition. Fan motors on a/c units go out all the time so its a normal wear and tear item which would typically be on the property owner to remedy.

Edit to add: If it needs a system replacement, I would put that 100% on the new homeowners. Again, inspection report pre-closing said everything was in good working condition. No way in hell would I shoulder the cost of a new HVAC system in a home I sold a month or two ago with a clear inspection report. Buyer should have included a home warranty if they were worried about something like this.

htxag09 said:

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Tangential question and sorry if it's ignorant or dumb, but why are these leasebacks a thing? Why couldn't/wouldn't you just set the agreed upon date as the closing date?

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Rising interest rates

SteveBott said:

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What about a couple of those portable AC units they sell at Home Depot for 70-80 bucks? Throw one in the rooms you need to use

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We did that. It's made it bearable.

carl spacklers hat said:

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Interesting scenario with two options (assuming its a fan motor only).

First option, pay to have the fan motor replaced. A condenser fan motor is roughly $100.00. Labor to install maybe $150 and trip charge, maybe $125. You're out $375.00 for the fan motor work, the a/c system works and you did a solid for the buyer, who's money you took earlier in the summer.

Second option is to blow it off, live the next several days in one half of the house and leave when your tenancy is up. Are you and the new owner going to get in a squabble over less than $500? Some things just aren't worth the waste of energy and this sounds like one of those things.

If it turns into a pissing match, you have the inspection report that everything was in good working condition. Fan motors on a/c units go out all the time so its a normal wear and tear item which would typically be on the property owner to remedy.

Edit to add: If it needs a system replacement, I would put that 100% on the new homeowners. Again, inspection report pre-closing said everything was in good working condition. No way in hell would I shoulder the cost of a new HVAC system in a home I sold a month or two ago with a clear inspection report. Buyer should have included a home warranty if they were worried about something like this.

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For whatever reason, and again, I'm not an HVAC guy, but something on the unit is apparently locked up and they aren't even sure that a new fan motor will fix it. There's an issue with the compressor as well. Total cost for the "cheap" fix is $1500. Other option is whole new unit. I'm not paying for either, that's their problem. I've got the clean report not only from their inspector but also from an independent check of the system we did in May.

htxag09 said:

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Tangential question and sorry if it's ignorant or dumb, but why are these leasebacks a thing? Why couldn't/wouldn't you just set the agreed upon date as the closing date?

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In our situation, our new home wasn't going to be ready for move in (vacated by the old owner) until August. With the real estate market the way it was this summer, sellers call the shots on these things.

As such, we asked to lease back until mid August so as not to have to move to a rental then into our home we bought. Plus, house we sold has a pool, and the kids wanted to be able to swim for the summer.

Yeah, I get it in some situations. But seems to be more and more normal, maybe just because, as you said it's, a sellers market. Or maybe it's just coincidental that people close to me have done it the past few months.

But a coworker bought a house and did a lease back to the owner for no cost for 2 weeks. My sister did similar but for 3 weeks. Seems like those are situations where you could just delay closing and avoid potential headaches.

I've been in the mortgage business a long time so this is just one person's opinion. If I'm the buyer I want to close ASAP if the transfer of possession is delayed due to issues such as those described here. I have run into issues where sellers have lost their jobs, gotten a visit from a constable with a greetings welcome to divorce court service, etc. Those things change seller's minds. If they still own the house good luck getting them out on the predetermined date if they decide not to sell. If you're already the owner it's much easier.

Fair points. We closed back in June on the sale of the house and the purchase of our new house. We no longer own the house we sold, we are tenants. So this becomes a landlord/tenant situation. Only rent we were charged was a $10 deposit.

Aggiemike96 said:

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aggiedadofpanda said:

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Only rent we were charged was a $10 deposit.

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Probably not getting that deposit back.

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That would be financially crippling…

AC Inspector > "Everything looks good!"

Two months later > "May need a whole new system here Jim"

Like what the heck did I just pay you for?

aggiedadofpanda said:

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My wife and I sold our home earlier in the summer in Dallas. The buyers granted us a leaseback until Aug 11, with nothing more than a $10 deposit. They had missed on several houses, and were willing to do this. Our new home was not going to be vacated until Aug 1, so this was a good situation for us.

Here's the problem. On 7/24, one of the AC units in the house we sold stopped working, making 1/2 of the house hot as hell. We notified the buyers of this issue. They have done absolutely nothing to address the issue. I brought an AC specialist out to the house, hoping that it just needed additional coolant. This was done on my own dime, which I wasn't obligated to do.

Turns out that they need either a new fan motor, or potentially a new system. They are telling the AC company that I brought out that I will pay for all repairs, which absolutely isn't happening.

My question is this: can I pursue legal action against the buyers for leaving us without AC for 18 days in Dallas during the summer? I certainly don't owe them anything, and they are being horrible about the whole situation. This is normal wear and tear. We had an AC inspection and report done prior to closing that they accepted.

Thanks for any commentary.

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If the repair is less than $500, fix it. Call it rent. Move on with your life.

Did you not read all the thread? Fix starts at 1500 and may need a complete replacement. So no don't fix it. Survive a week and move out.

harrierdoc said:

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OP,
Pretend you were renting the house on a year lease. What would your monthly rent be? $2000/month? You basically got a premium for the house, given the recent bubble, and are paying nothing to live there. Even at $1500, you are still getting out ahead, all things considered.

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Monthly rent on the house would be $5000 a month, not $2000. That said, we were able to work it out with them and they fixed the AC unit on their dime.

SteveBott had it right. It was a $1500 fix. I didn't want to pay that on a house I had already sold and was vacating. I'm doing $150K remodel on our new house. It's not that I can't do it, I just didn't want to and didn't feel it was my responsibility. They owned the house, and agreed to the $10 leaseback, in fact, they proposed it in THEIR offer. I didn't solicit it. I was frustrated initially but it's astounding the responses on this thread. It was HOT in Dallas. 105 degrees hot. I was looking for some type of response around possible recourse from a buyer that showed no interest in fixing the problem.

Thanks to those of you that provided helpful responses, and for those of you that took this as an opportunity to be d*cks on the internet, I hope you have a good day.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Quote:

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Monthly rent on the house would be $5000 a month, not $2000.

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oh look at me.

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Point made. Enjoy your day.