Is my house seller trying to jerk me around?

October 4, 2009 5:53 PM

Is my house seller trying to jerk me around? Specific liability legalese inside.

I (the buyer) have an accepted offer on a house, and we've moved the closing date up 2 days in order to get a better interest rate. We're scheduled to close on a wednesday. We're renting the house back to the sellers until that friday at 5pm. We're in Wisconsin, so we're using the standard addendum O to handle the rent back agreement. The sellers want to add the following language.

"Occupant shall only be responsible for liability claims resulting directly from occupant's direct actions or negligence. All other liabilty claims resulting from anything other than the occupant's negligence shall be the responibility of the owner"

I know you are not my lawyer but:
It seems to me that this wording opens me up to a ton of liability issue. For instance, what if the movers damage something while moving the sellers out. What if they have their friends over the last night and trash the place?

Thanks for your opinions.

posted by bkhahn to Law & Government (8 answers total)

If they invite friends over to trash the place wouldn't that be a result of the occupants' direct actions or negligence?
posted by Max Power at 6:09 PM on October 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

This may not help, but... I was once told by a buyers' agent: Never do the whole "rent back" thing. The possible complications are endless. Simply adjust the closing date instead.
posted by browse at 6:15 PM on October 4, 2009

What does your lawyer say? You do have a real estate lawyer, right...? It's their job to tell you what this means and whether it's bad for you.
posted by zompist at 6:40 PM on October 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

From their perspective, they won't have homeowners' insurance on the place any more, so what if there is a tornado? IANAL, but I'd counter-propose something you feel comfortable with. Eg, "occupant shall not be responsible for liability claims caused by natural disaster, nor by any criminal activity that is unrelated to occupants' direct action or negligence."
posted by salvia at 7:30 PM on October 4, 2009

IANAL, but will you have homeowner's insurance effective the day of the purchase? That would cover the property for most insurance-ey things.

Ask your lawyer, your broker or your insurance agent and make sure you're covered for any eventuality; you're paying for their expertise.
posted by dzaz at 2:34 AM on October 5, 2009

Wouldn't you need more than just homeowner's insurance? I think you'd need some sort of landlord's cover for that short period.
posted by tetranz at 3:48 AM on October 5, 2009

What does your real estate agent say?
posted by Carol Anne at 5:23 AM on October 5, 2009

nthing the suggest to get a decent real estate lawyer. They're not that expensive, and they can save your untold stress and aggregation particularly. It souinds like your seller may already be working with an attorney of their own, which puts them at a substantial advantage in this transaction. You're taking a complicated transaction -- a house sale -- and then on top of that becoming a landlord to the existing owners, which opens up the possibility for all sorts of complications. Get someone on your side!
posted by larsks at 11:37 AM on October 5, 2009