Family can't move into house they bought

[tyecopeland]

Story involves covid eviction issue and California law so might end up in dc.

https://www.foxla.com/news/couple-bu...orium-loophole

Added article in spoiler for those who don't like clicking links.

Spoiler!

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - When Tracie and Myles Albert purchased a beautiful four bedroom house in Riverside, California they never realized that at the end of escrow the seller would suddenly refuse to give up the keys and leave.

"It’s just draining, emotionally and financially," says Tracie. On January 31, 2020, the couple purchased the home. More than a year later, they still haven’t been able get inside their property. Chris Taylor is the Real Estate Agent who sold the house to the Alberts from a man who wanted to sell immediately.

"He needed $560,000 from the sale of his house in two weeks and he called me on a Sunday, so in traditional real estate there's no way of doing that unless the buyer’s a cash buyer," says Taylor.

Since the house was free and clear and worth more than $560,000 the Alberts felt it was a great deal.


"It took us scrambling to get everything we had, our life savings put together and a hard money loan on top of it to make that happen," Myles stated.



During escrow they discovered there was a $30,000 tax lien on the house which slowed things down, but in the end, all parties signed on the dotted line and the sale was completed.

"We own the house, outright. That's our house and it's all in a contract, written, legal, done. He's been paid the money in his account. How could we have no rights to go into our home," asked Myles.

FOX 11 News tried to speak with the seller but when reporter Gina Silva knocked and announced herself, no one came to the door.

Taylor says, "It’s genuinely unfathomable to me that we live in a state where something like this is even possible. They closed escrow on this home January 31, 2020." The Alberts and Taylor have contacted authorities and tried to get the seller evicted but because of the pandemic, they’ve gotten nowhere.

"They have this case under a COVID tenant situation, of no evictions when it doesn't fall under that at all. This transaction went through in January 2020 before any of that, it isn't a renter who was getting thrown out. It's the guy who collected all of this money," stated Myles.


Eviction Attorney Dennis Block says, "This year alone, we’ve handled at least 7 maybe 8 cases of this exact type of situation."

He says people purchasing homes need to be extremely cautious, especially if they notice any red flags during the process. Block says what’s happening to the Alberts could happen to anyone.

"This person is not a tenant, it’s a previous owner who is enjoying the benefits of the money that was transferred to his account but of course doesn’t want to move out of the premises that he no longer owns," Block stated.

The Alberts filed an unlawful detainer but because of the California eviction moratorium, the case has been stalled. Time is simply passing by and the immaculate house they fell in love with is now becoming an eyesore.

Tracie says, "I tried watering the lawn one time and he came out and ripped my sprinkler lines, ripped all the wires. The Palm trees are dying, everything was beautiful and everything is dying."

Her frustrated husband says when he contacted law enforcement, they told him, "If you were in Arizona, if you were in Nevada, this wouldn't be a problem, you would just go take your house back. But in California, like our hands are tied, even though we're on your side, there's nothing we can do."

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I honestly can't believe why people would want to live here.

I ****ing hate it here.

Awesome bike trails?

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Awesome bike trails?

I should neg rep you for that.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by rabblerouser

'm just saying, I want to see this 4 bedroom house worth $460,000.

Buddha ****, I'm sleeping in a 6 bedroom worth 2/3 of that...

In most cases, the real estate prices in California (outside of the $2+ million homes) aren't reflective of the quality or size of the home at all. You're paying for the "privilege" of living in California or in simple terms, the land.

My home is worth 2-3 times that of family that lives in Leawood but our home is nowhere near 2-3 times as nice or even "nicer" at all, nor do we have an HOA nor modern conveniences of those that live in that area.

I've never understood why people that don't need to live in California, live in California. There's a freaking surcharge for every aspect of life on top of the highest taxes in the union. And while sure, Disneyland and the beach are great, unless you can afford to live at the beach, it means nothing. The nearest beach is 45 minutes from my home and I'm lucky if I make it down there 4 times a year and many years, that number has been zero.

Originally Posted by Graystoke

Sellers market for sure. I recently put my Mom and Dads house on the market. It was in a great historic area, great lot on a Boulevard but needed ton of work. We listed it and there was 7 offers on the table within 5 days, all significantly above asking. We took the biggest offer obviously at 15K above asking. And no we didn't undervalue this property.
It blew my mind how quick it went. There is absolutely nothing that stays on the market long around here.

There are houses in my neighborhood and others that are going same-day for $100k over asking price. It's insanity right now because investors are looking to take advantage of these super-low interest rates before they disappear.

Originally Posted by Chief Pote

Never pay cash. Lots of alarms should have been going off on this one.

Cash deals are extremely common in California. I had a friend that was looking recently that lost out on more than a dozen homes that were $1+ million because buyers stepped in with cash.

[displacedinMN]

housing market is crazy everywhere
Free money. Lack of supply of homes. Older people that do not need to move out of their homes.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Isn't the price on lumber still unusually high right now? Seems like not a good time to build.

Perhaps, but still comparable to owned homes we see on the market. We also got in at the right time where we're building, since paying our deposit and locking in the purchase price two months ago the starting cost with our builder has gone up almost $20k.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I should neg rep you for that.

Well it's a good reason to visit...

[Bugeater]

Oops, that trail actually isn't in DSM. But this one is.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I've never understood why people that don't need to live in California, live in California. There's a freaking surcharge for every aspect of life on top of the highest taxes in the union. And while sure, Disneyland and the beach are great, unless you can afford to live at the beach, it means nothing. The nearest beach is 45 minutes from my home and I'm lucky if I make it down there 4 times a year and many years, that number has been zero.

Yeah, I've browsed a bit after applying for a job or two in Southern California and it's just insane.... one job was a potential 25% raise, but 95% of that would have gone straight to a higher mortgage just to be within an hour drive of work, much less gas prices, the money thrown down the shitter for personal property taxes, the traffic and all the ****ing people, and on and on.

And I personally love LA for several reasons, but seriously doubt I'll ever live there for any real length of time (much like Chicago).

[dmahurin]

I got really lucky recently. Got my pre-approval letter on a Thursday. Looked at 2 houses on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, made on offer on the second one for 5k over asking, it was accepted within 2 hours. Everything is good to go and I close on april 15th. It went surprisingly smooth and easy with all the horror stories of the market right now.

[xbarretx]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Same thing down here in Texas right now. My wife is a realtor. Homes if priced correctly, get offers within a day or two at most. Even new build inventory is having problems keeping up with demand.

Its the same up here in north dallas (Prosper)... its great and im loving it. My wifes a realtor as well and we relocated to DFW about 2 years ago for a job offer I couldn't refuse. Started our build in early 2019 before all of this crap happened and everything really exploded. id be happy about the instant 100K in equity but as you know.. property taxes down in the lone star state are nothing to shake a stick at. Either way, we still got a great deal on a 4400+ sqft brick home and was able to work out some sweat deals with the builder because things were slow. long gone are those days... peeps are putting down 20 - 40k and my wifes current developer in Frisco has waiting lists over 80 people long. no ones offering discounts.

BTW, finally visited San Antonio a couple weeks ago... river walk is a nice area and looks to be a clean city... then we went to Austin.... #WompWomp #NuffSaid .... other than PintHousePizza... no need to ever visit austin again.. ((sorry for the random tangent....Shawnee Mission North Highschool Football RULES!))

[scho63]

Originally Posted by dmahurin

I got really lucky recently. Got my pre-approval letter on a Thursday. Looked at 2 houses on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, made on offer on the second one for 5k over asking, it was accepted within 2 hours. Everything is good to go and I close on april 15th. It went surprisingly smooth and easy with all the horror stories of the market right now.

Wait until you find the dead cheerleaders in the basement. That's why they sold it to you so quicky.......

Or watch the Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by dmahurin

I got really lucky recently. Got my pre-approval letter on a Thursday. Looked at 2 houses on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, made on offer on the second one for 5k over asking, it was accepted within 2 hours. Everything is good to go and I close on april 15th. It went surprisingly smooth and easy with all the horror stories of the market right now.

Congrats! You should build a celebratory turret on it.

(I like turrets.)

[kccrow]

Was there a contingency in the contract that allowed for the seller to find a new home before leaving the residence? If so, the buyers are ****ed either way.

If not, the seller is likely very much in breach of contract, COVID restrictions be damned. I'm not familiar with Cali at the moment, but if those restrictions were not passed into law by the state congress and are merely governor's orders then that creates a whole other layer of shit because contract laws will trump executive order's when the day of reckoning comes. Maybe one of the Cali locals can chime in on that.

[mlyonsd]

Did we arrest this POS yet?

[Peter Gibbons]

Originally Posted by scho63

Wait until you find the dead cheerleaders in the basement. That's why they sold it to you so quicky.......

Or watch the Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long.

Love the Money Pit. It is a little known fact that the Money Pit was actually a remake of “ Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” with Cary Grant. I’ve seen both and each has their own charm. If you haven’t seen the original and like old movies, it’s worth your time.