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morriselma

Seller Backing Out After Otp

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Hi Everyone,

I've recently payed deposit (OTP) on a resale 4 rm hdb flat in Bishan. Im scheduled for a 1st apptment on May 6. All seems ok till the agent called me yesterday saying the owner wants to cancel the transaction as he wants a higher price. Accdg to the agent, the seller called hdb and the person he spoke to adviced him to call hdb to cancel the transaction if he is unhappy. My agent told me hdb will ask my consent, and since I like the place alot, i will not agree to cancel the sales. MY agent also said not to agree. owner wants to get my hp number to negotiate, but told my agent not to give as we are past the negotiation stage. What are the possible scenarios here? any advice? thanks!

 

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Hi Everyone,

I've recently payed deposit (OTP) on a resale 4 rm hdb flat in Bishan. Im scheduled for a 1st apptment on May 6. All seems ok till the agent called me yesterday saying the owner wants to cancel the transaction as he wants a higher price. Accdg to the agent, the seller called hdb and the person he spoke to adviced him to call hdb to cancel the transaction if he is unhappy. My agent told me hdb will ask my consent, and since I like the place alot, i will not agree to cancel the sales. MY agent also said not to agree. owner wants to get my hp number to negotiate, but told my agent not to give as we are past the negotiation stage. What are the possible scenarios here? any advice? thanks!

I assume that since you already have a 1st appointment date scheduled, the OTP has already been exercised.

If the Option has been exercised, legally speaking, the seller is obliged to sell it to you and if he/she backs out of the deal, you have the right to pursue legal proceedings against him/her for the appropriate compensation as the exercised option is a legally binding contract. Note: HDB will not interfere in any legal conflict between both buyer and seller, which explains wy they bo chup.

How this works is that if you are unhappy about him backing out, you seek legal redress and unless you and him/her mutually agree to declare the agreement null and void, he has to compensate you appropriately for another similar unit which you now have to look for since he/she has voided the sale. Example, seller and you agree on a price of $400K for the unit. Now that he/she backs out, you look and find a similar unit which you buy at $430K. He will have to compensate you the $30K difference.

So now, it largely depends on you how to work this scenario. You can be forgiving and let it go, or if you really want the unit, you can proceed with legal action. Legal-wise, you have the upper end.

 

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thanks for the info. agent did mention if we decide to mutually cancel, we still have to pay agent's fee. If so, can i tell the seller he pays for it since he wants to cancel the deal besides compensating for any amount if i find a similar unit with a higher price?

 

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thanks for the info. agent did mention if we decide to mutually cancel, we still have to pay agent's fee. If so, can i tell the seller he pays for it since he wants to cancel the deal besides compensating for any amount if i find a similar unit with a higher price?

Get the seller to pay ur agent the fees since HE is the one cancelling the contract. On top of that. seek redress for compensation. Ask HIM what does he intend to do.

 

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Not here to offer any proper advice.. but if you had to take legal action against your sellers, you would have to engage lawyers? If you took a bank loan you'll have access to lawyers already. If not, you would have to engage one to take action against your sellers now right? Would you be able to claim your legal fees too? mm

Edited by pinkpetter
 

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thanks for the info. agent did mention if we decide to mutually cancel, we still have to pay agent's fee. If so, can i tell the seller he pays for it since he wants to cancel the deal besides compensating for any amount if i find a similar unit with a higher price?

Yes, you can push for that as part of compensation in the legal proceedings as that cost incurred is a direct consequence of his voiding of the contract.

 

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Yes, you can push for that as part of compensation in the legal proceedings as that cost incurred is a direct consequence of his voiding of the contract.

Sounds like the seller will be at the losing end unless he is selling at a much lower price.

 

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Almost had the same situation previously, when I paid the OTP sum but the buyer eventually refuse to accept it and sign on her part of the contract. Which is actually a fortunate thing actually...

I think you might be able to solve the problem by simply listing down the actions you will take against the owner, and what you will get them to compensate if they breached the contract (price difference compensation, lawyers' fees, agent fees etc). That might wake them up.

NEVER reveal your handphone number, you don't want people bugging you long after the action is over...

 

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Me too had a same situation previously, only diff is my owner no room for nego he just cancel the 1st appt without our consent. Try asking them out for more understanding/nego but no reply until we seek lawyer to send a Letter of Demand.

Now waiting for my 1st appt which is on 21 Apr after resubmit again. :P (keep my finger cross)

 

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I think the withdrawal of sale either by the Agent or Seller is largely very stressful affair for Buyers.

Firstly, the Buyer already spends alot of time, brain power and effort to search, view and finally shortlist and narrow down to that single choice of flat which they really like and want. The last thing any Buyer would want is for a spanner to be thrown into the works.

Sometimes these situations are even a result of Agents/Sellers who go back on their word before the signing of the OTP. You may feel hard done by but at the end of the day, because there is no legal documentation, you just have to grit your teeth and suffer on your own.

My experience was about 3 years ago. I was then helping my parents find a unit around my area. They viewed quite a number before finally finding a unit they really liked. After negotiating with the Agent, and offering a price which was accepted by the Seller. We told the Agent to arrange for us to meet up so that we can sign the OTP and place a deposit. The Agent set a timing that day itselffor us to meet. We arrived early and text her, she said timing delayed and made us wait for almost an hour. Having waited for some time, I tried calling the Agent and she never answered, so we were quite annoyed.

Later, the Agent SMSes me and tells me that the flat is sold and the Seller and Agent proceeded to sell it to someone else who offered $1K more. This really made my parents very sad and angry because its not so much the issue of money but the integrity (or rather lack of it). Verbally agreed and already arranged to meet to sign, but suddenly, last minute kenna played out. Frankly, they could have just told us and even though this sorta deal still stinks, my parents would've willingly topped up to match the price because they liked the unit so much.

End result they had to spend almost another 2 months searching again before they found another unit, which wasn't really what they wanted, but had no choice because they had a move-out timing to fulfil.

 

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my agent called again last night saying seller will settle all expenses to cancel the deal and maybe even offer a small amount of $$$. I told my agent its not all about the $$$. Even if I get back all the $$ I spent on that flat, it does not cover back the time and expenses I spent looking at other flats, which I would have to do all over again if i look for another place. I like the flat and after reading all the posts here, I told the agent I'm not negotiating and will want to push through with the sales. thanks everyone for the input shared....

 

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What you want is really for them to sell the flat to you, not to get any compensation right? So my advice is you should be seeking legal advice at this point already, do not wait until the seller confirmed with HDB to call off the deal. By which time it will be too late and you can only seek compensation.

Get a lawyer, pay a small fee and send them an aggressive letter stating your intentions, your rights, what you will be claiming, etc and demand officially (in proper legal language) that they proceed with the sale.

Agents are useless from this point onwards, firstly because they are not legally trained, secondly they will be getting their commission anyway, so do you think they will have a vested interest to help you?

 

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thanks to all who responded. after 2 conference calls with seller and agent, i told him i will not agree to cancel the sale and I would proceed to take legal actions if necessary. thank God he showed up during our 1st apptment (though seller's wife made rude remarks to my agent's supervisor, saying they were cheated, blah blah blah). They even asked the HDB officer if they can still cancel the sale, blaming the agents rushed them for this and that, they didnt fully understand the sale info (crap), which officer flatly said "I don't believe you", hehehehe... got my letter saying completion date tentatively July 1...

 

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thanks to all who responded. after 2 conference calls with seller and agent, i told him i will not agree to cancel the sale and I would proceed to take legal actions if necessary. thank God he showed up during our 1st apptment (though seller's wife made rude remarks to my agent's supervisor, saying they were cheated, blah blah blah). They even asked the HDB officer if they can still cancel the sale, blaming the agents rushed them for this and that, they didnt fully understand the sale info (crap), which officer flatly said "I don't believe you", hehehehe... got my letter saying completion date tentatively July 1...

Hi any one can give me some advise .I had some dispute with my seller regarding the extension for staying as the 2nd appointment will be on next few wk .I had already sold off my flat if they don't turn I at the 2nd appointment can I take legal action against them at that day or can I look for a lawyer now as I trying to compromise by calling the seller as they don't had agent but until now they do not want to answer the call .

 

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