The realtor got a commission but a ton of headaches as well.
Poor Nancy Kemp Deakin, who was pushed to the limit when hired to sell this house at 86 St. John's in Pointe Claire as court documents attest.
The building was long owned by the Sheward family but dad died and mom went under curatorship.
The curator rented it out at a relatively low rent from 2006 to Serge Dufour and Christiane Cote.
The elderly owner died. Alberta-based Gordon Sheward and Wendy Takats inherited it.
They offered tenants Dufour and Cote a chance to buy the property. The tenants offered $227,000 but the owners were looking more at about $300 k + so no deal.
In November 2010, the two owners hired Deakin Realty to sell the property.
Deakin had all sorts of trouble getting the tenants to accept the papers proving her legal mandate and later in the affair the tenants would demand additional documents, further slowing the process.
As a result, it was almost impossible to arrange a visit.
The owners aimed to get it sold before Dec. 31, to allow new purchasers the ability to take possession July 1 the following year.
Someone named Mansour was one of the half-dozen people who managed to get a visit.
Not only was it difficult to get an appointment to see the house but court documents suggest that the tenants were pulling stunts such as turning the lights off before a visitor even left a room.
They said they did this because they wanted to make sure nobody could walk into the house and see their work documents.
Mansour offered $315,000 for the property but wanted his wife to visit too. But that additional visit was too difficult to organize due to the multiplicity of conditions that the tenants had made upon visits.
So Mansour retracted his offer and the vendors eventually accepted an offer of $300,000 without condition of inspection, from Amir Hashemi.
After the sale, the owners sued Serge Dufour and Christiane Cote and won a $49,000 decision 10 days ago.
The tenants will have to pay a hefty price for not allowing a freer access to the realtor.
Deakin, for her troubles, appears to have received a commission but not much more for her headaches.
The joys of rental properties!
ReplyDeleteThese people were probably being dicks but I have rented properties that went up for sale while I was living in them and it sucks big time.
ReplyDeletePeople showing up at all hours, especially weekend mornings. Coming home to discover people in my house. Being chastised by real estate agents for not keeping my bedroom closet tidy, etc.
The last time, I negotiated half price rent in return for my cooperation. Even that didn't feel like it was worth the aggravation.
These days, I would leave immediately when the property went up for sale if I could. I can imagine a situation where I would be making it as difficult as legally possible for the owner to show the home (but I would speak to a Lawyer first).
Interesting story, as always K-Gravy. As an real estate broker, I can assure you that there are pretty clear rules about showing properties that are rented out. I have to give at least 24 hours notice. The times have to be mutually agreable, though the tenant has to make an effort to accommodate the visits. I don't ask people to clean up. It doesn't make my job easier if the tenants are slobs, but there you have it. I'm glad to hear the vendors got a court judgement and a cash payout.
ReplyDeleteHere's a blog post I wrote about a slummed up place I was selling in Verdun a while back.
http://marylamey.blogspot.ca/2011/03/tale-of-two-houses-or-what-difference.html
Ultimately, we had to wait for the tenants to leave before the place could be shown.