I believe it was a lawyer on CB that told me that.

Anyway, we have been stuck in this awkward home purchase situation where our offer was accepted by the seller. However, there was a pending insurance-funded roof replacement. Part of the contract was that the roof needed to be replaced before closing. Well, due to Covid supply-chain shortages, the old roof was removed and no new tiles were available to be installed.

The first closing date came and went. A new date was set. We arranged to move into the home (since we had to vacate our current home). Well, the replacement tiles arrived but it took much longer than time was available to install the roof. The sellers agreed to allow us to occupy the home while the work was being completed.

Well, apparently the sellers did not expect the repairs to take weeks/months to complete. They were bleeding cash (allegedly) as they were carrying two mortgages and they got a loan from the seller’s business to pay for their second home.

So, they put the pressure on us to close before the work was completed. This is where the lawyer situation comes into play. The RE lawyer representing our closing at first pushed back saying it wasn’t in our best interest. A day or so later he took a different stance and urged us to close with an escrow agreement in place that held 150% of the remaining cost of the roof in an escrow account. It sounded like a horrible idea but I was assured by the lawyer that funds would not be paid out until the work was completed.

The day after close … LITERALLY LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER, our ceiling is leaking water from the roof!!!! Two days later … A SECOND LEAK!!! So pissed! I was assured that someone else’s problem would not become our problem. But all of a sudden, we were being told to call this contractor and that contractor, etc.

We pushed back a bit and got some people to take action so it wasn’t all on us. But I did learn that although we were financially protected, our peace of mind was stolen!

Now, the sellers and their lawyer are demanding funds be released (work is still not 100% completed) since they have paid money out of their own pocket to compensate contractors. They are saying the remaining work is “warranty work” and that the job is technically completed.

Our lawyer I guess is working overtime on this case and I guess won’t get compensated any more for it (we’ve already closed and he’s been paid) and so he is checked out and only wants to get rid of this headache. It seems he basically told us what he could to make his life as easy as possible, then things crapped out on everyone, and now all he wants is for this to go away. He’s asking us to agree to release the escrow funds and saying that the sellers could litigate this and basically pressuring us to give in.

At this point, he’s not “representing” us. We have a partially exposed roof to elements and it has been raining every day. I’m no roofing expert but I didn’t think the roofing sub materials are supposed to get wet. At least we haven’t had any ceiling leaks since the initial two. However, the fact that the roof leaked before it was completed makes me question the integrity of the entire job. Sucks!