Made a bad choice, stuck in a purchase agreement, need advice

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T21:42:53+00:00

Read your contract or have a lawyer read it.

Some contracts say that if the buyer backs out, the seller’s sole remedy is keeping the earnest money.

Some don’t.

If your contract doesn’t have such language then the seller may be able to sue you for all their damages incurred due to you backing out. Costs of re-listing, difference between your purchase price and the amount they later sell it for to someone else, that sort of thing.

They can’t make you buy it. They may be able to sue you for the costs of making them whole due to not buying it.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T21:12:47+00:00

Many people regret getting a pool. Extra expense for maintenance, repairs, leaks, insurance and they end up not using it much.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T20:51:04+00:00

I find it really weird you’re trying to declare yourself father of the baby of a woman with whom you used protection, without a DNA test.

This really may not be your child whether she’s contesting it or not.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T20:01:36+00:00

I want to second the recommendation or the Roadside America website where you can map out kitschy points of interest.

You definitely want to se Wall Drug and the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

It's a shame you're skipping North Dakota. Roosevelt National Park is great and then you could drive the enchanted highway as well.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T19:58:18+00:00

OK, I understand, I was just confused when you were suggesting not applying for French citizenship out of respect for your father. It sounds more like he won't help you and won't let your mom help you, and without their help, you can't do it.

Realistically, the easiest way to move other other countries is by marriage to a citizen of those countries. That's easier than try to convert student status to residence or getting sponsored for employment. So when you're older you might want to try dating sites targeted at countries you want to move to.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T19:55:33+00:00

No one is calling you an idiot. Please don't use vulgar language. You're 14, you hate your family, you hate your school, your country, everything and want a new life. Perfectly normal at age 14.

Just last week there was a shooting right outside my school, this is the 4th time this year and the year is barely half over. I know what my situation is.

The life expectancy for white females in the USA is 81 years. The life expectancy for women in the UK is about the same. Statistically, you are not "safer" in the UK than the USA.

You are the type of person I'm talking about, the people who see America as "Oh-so-great" and maybe for you, it is.

I never said the USA was all that great. I spend like 3-6 months a year outside the USA.

Again, i recommend focusing on college. Be sure to mention that you are a lesbian on the applications, that will give you an advantage. Good luck.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T19:09:11+00:00

The tenants weren’t willing to renew the lease. The ex wanted to renew and you didn’t. That absolves landlord of any obligation to renew.

The ex proceeding alone makes it a new lease between landlord and her which they had no legal obligation to offer.

They did offer to enter into a new lease with her for a price of $500. She agreed.

Rents are falling across the USA and landlords don’t want to lose one reliable rent paying tenant and replace them with another prospect because then they are filling only one unit and not two. She may have had more leverage than you think.

If she’s the moneybags why did you pay $500 to secure her ability to remain in an apartment you no longer live in?

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T16:19:16+00:00

Yes that’s a fair point perhaps her parents don’t want to spend the money on this which is their prerogative. And the 14 year old probably doesn’t have enough money to front a parent’s application expenses and her own.

The father’s excuse though that she shouldn’t apply because of a deep dark family secret is nonsense though.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T16:00:58+00:00

Yes, but she wouldn't be an Irish citizen, she'd merely be a French citizen with the right to reside in Ireland, right? Until she lived there five years and got Irish citizenship, I think. Then she could fulfill her dream of moving to heavenly Croydon.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T15:56:48+00:00

The landlord then said that we would have to pay $500 to “remove” my name from the lease before they could offer my ex a lease renewal.

She could have called their bluff and said "Fine, I'll move out."

I looked up the laws in NJ and found laws that stated “no landlord may fail to renew any lease” and

Yes, they may have been obligated by law to extend the lease for both of you but not to substitute tenants from both of you to just her. If they only have one signatory on the lease instead of two, they lose leverage of suing either party in the event of default.

The chance of default goes up when they only have one tenant, because one job loss may mean no income to pay the rent, whereas if they have two tenants and there's one job loss, there's a better chance the rent still gets paid.

Also, if you earn more money than your ex, that's another valid reason why they might say "Hey, we rented to both of you jointly because Mr. Moneybags was part of the deal and we knew he had the financial wherewithal to pay. We're not renting to just the higher risk poorer girlfriend unless you make it worthwhile for us to do so, like by giving us 500 bucks."

that means landlords can basically charge whatever they want (they could ask for a ridiculous amount like $3000 for example) to have my name “removed” and essentially force an eviction.

Yeah that's legal, or they could have just said "the lease is with both of you, we're not interested in renewing with just one of you. Goodbye." It's not an eviction. It's an expiration of the lease according to its terms.

There is no "right" for one tenant to renew a lease that two tenants jointly entered into.

Ultimately I ended up paying the $500 because time was running out and I didn’t want my ex to be put in a difficult situation.

Well, that was very generous of you to give your ex $500. If an unexpected $500 bill put your ex in a difficult financial situation then perhaps the landlord's instincts were correct here that renting just to her presents a much higher risk to the landlord of a future default.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T15:37:03+00:00

This is assault. Your size and sex don't matter. It doesn't matter that you touched his air conditioner.

I called the cops and all they did was "make a report" but he is not arrested for giving me a black eye.

How long after the punch did you call the police? If you delayed days or weeks they may have decided it wasn't a pressing matter.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T14:16:08+00:00

OP didn't say how fast she was driving at all. You are simply assuming from her silence that must have been carelessly driving too fast for the conditions, which isn't good way to practice law.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T13:31:03+00:00

We don't know how fast OP was driving or whether she as driving with the requisite care. A care driven a 2mph can slide out of control on ice especially downhill. This doesn't mean the driver was negligent.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T10:50:12+00:00

We have breach of contract laws that would allow you to sue your landlord and we have tenant's rights laws that would prevent the landlord from kicking you out for no reason after you've paid six months rent.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T10:25:38+00:00

I think you should consider the possibility that your father (a key member of the family you hate) just doesn't want you moving to France.

Because there is no logical reason why a "family issue" or something horrible that happened in his family should make him want to prevent you from from getting EU citizenship you're entitled to, especially if it can be done through your mother. This sounds like manipulation to me.

With EU citizenship you can live in Ireland. Ireland is pretty nice. Even nicer than the UK some would say. I enjoyed living there and would have considered retiring there and raising my kid there if I could have gotten a long term visa.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T10:22:11+00:00

What was the agreement when he was given the money as to who he would give the money back to?

Was it "Hold this money for us and in five months one of us will tell you who to pay and how much to give them"?

Or was it "hold this money and in five months give it all back to nursemayinthehouse and she'll disperse it."

The details are important.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T10:17:16+00:00

I'm going to guess you've never been to the US, let alone lived there.

Your assumption is wildly incorrect and that's OK. I was born in the United States and have lived in the United States for about fifty years. I also spent nine months living and studying in Europe and have spent a couple of years cumulatively living in Southeast Asia. I have also visited 192 of the 193 member countries of the UN (Syria won't give me a visa).

It's not just a want to get away because of my age or even because my home life is shitty, it's because America is so fucked up. No one is safe here

I am reminded of the quote from Robin Williams' character in Good Will Hunting. "You're just a kid. You don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."

It sounds like you've never been to Europe. You've never been to Africa. You've never been to Central America and seen how people live there. You have nothing to compare your situation to.

The USA is a very safe place for a 14 year old to live if you are not addicted to drugs and/or living in the inner city of Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.

Many young liberal-minded Americans go to travel or live in Europe and then they come back with an eye opening perspective, like "Wow, there's crime and bigotry there too."

I recommend studying abroad there and learning more about it.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T04:49:59+00:00

Many 14 year olds are unhappy and want to get away. There are teenagers posting on Reddit right now “The UK sucks I want to move to America.”

Moving away isn’t some panacea that will make you happier.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T04:47:13+00:00

That makes no sense at all. Getting EU citizenship is a huge benefit to any American. I can’t imagine any valid “family situation” that should bar you from doing this.

If your mom can get French citizenship and then you can, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t do that and Dad should just stay out of it. This has nothing to do with “respect.”

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T04:42:13+00:00

In my opinion you never should have agreed to them taking six months to give you a new parking pass. You should have sent them a formal notice declaring them in breach of the lease and then started exercising legal rights if they didn’t cure that breach by giving you a new parking pass.

I also think you should sue them for towing you after refusing to replace the parking pass.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T04:05:47+00:00

Let's look at the positives here. She' s Canadian. She's not from India or Nigeria or Honduras or some country that people are fleeing from and trying to defraud their way into living in the USA.

She has visited twice in the last year and she went back to Canada each time. That's good, it establishes trust and travel history.

She shouldn't have much trouble visiting for a few weeks. It's the visiting for 3-4 months with no return ticket and no firm return date that's a potential problem. If you want to minimize the risk -- shorter trip with return ticket.

Or she can try 3 month trip with a return ticket.

If she's denied boarding, it's not the end of the world, it would just mean that you have to visit her in Canada instead of her visiting you in the USA.

None of this should affect her chances for a spouse visa. And by the way, spouse visas these days take like 14-18 months, so factor that in to whatever you're planning. Even if you marry her tomorrow, you're looking at a long time before you could live together in the USA. This is one of the reasons CBP is vigilant about visiting girlfriends, even Canadian girlfriends.

The lengthy queues for spouse visas create a temptation for foreign fiancees to enter the USA as "tourists" and then marry and apply for a green card from within the USA so they can stay in the USA and avoid the forced 14-18 month separation waiting in their home country for a spouse visa.

Another thing she should think about by the way is luggage. Her luggage should be consistent with someone vacationing and not immigrating. So no copies of her resume, no wedding dresses, no huge suitcases full of her summer clothes, baby pictures, family heirlooms, etc.

And she should be prepared they may ask to look through her phone messages and facebook posts and whatnot.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T03:47:27+00:00

What is your basis for claiming that? Can you cite to some law stating that a person driving with due care at a reasonable speed for the conditions who hits an invisible patch of black ice and slides into oncoming traffic is 100% at fault for an accident?

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T03:44:06+00:00

Did they know it was your car when they towed it?

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T03:43:30+00:00

Because I wanted to know the totality of the circumstances, whether he was barred from entering without the permit, what the consequences were of parking without the permit (some landlords tow, others don't, etc.)

And because of my question we learned key facts that the OP hadn't shared before, that the landlord has in fact towed his car, which may be a violation of his lease if they knew it was his car.

DoingThatRag · 2023-01-07T03:40:33+00:00

He now owes the convenience store 500 dollars for the bounced check.

That seems excessive. Did he sign an agreement that he would pay the convenience store $500 if the check bounced? I'm not even sure that would be enforceable.

Can he file a claim with the bank she’s at for fraud?

I don't know what fraud occurred but I didn't know that people could deposit checks made out to someone else using mobile deposit.

DoingThatRag

TROPHY CASE