Thanks dixie and sue for your responses. I appreciate your information. In the end, I paid the interest charges and all the invoices that he has provided. I didn't agree with all of them but we decided it was worth it to just pay and get him out of our lives. The anxiety of having to deal with him just became too much and I need to focus on other things like my family who have lived in 5 different places (3 hotels!!) in the last year. We just need to get settled an move on. The only outstanding items are the 10% hold back which we will pay when the 55 days is up and the lien is removed. There are a few things that need to be completed on the house but we have arranged to get done. There were 10 outstanding items noted on the Oct 25th inspection but no safety issues so the city inspector allowed us to move in. The items were things like completing the tile tub surround, caulking around the tub, installing a range hood, inspecting the attic and installing a timer on a bathroom fan. We still don't have a CO and he is blaming that on us but it is because the cabinet guys haven't shown up to install a piece that is required before we can install the range hood despite us contacting them every 2 days. Everything else is done but only because we arranged to have it done. "Your GC must have been a delight to work with through this experience..." The fact that he cashed the cheque for final payment and then filed a lien against our house 3 hours later because we held back the legally required hold back is a good example of the sort of stuff we were up against. But to be fair it was a learning experience for us too. I wish I had found this board before we signed the contract. Our last build was easy and not stressful at all so although we did a lot of research we should have focused on different areas. For example, he has built a number of different homes but we discovered after the fact that they were all spec homes that people had bought while he was building. We were the first cost plus contract he has done. Looking back it is so obvious that it was a question that we should have asked but we didn't think of it. We were too focused on the quality of workmanship etc. Guess we will be smarter and more prepared if we are ever silly enough to build another home. :-) The most important thing is that over all we are happy with our house and in a few months I am sure I will be able to laugh about what an ass he was/is. I did tell him that I could not and would not budge on the holdback amount and if he wanted to sue me over it he could fill his boots. I pointed out that it would cost him money and the holdback funds would most likely be tied up until the spring due to court scheduling. Until I pointed it out I don't think he even realized that he was arguing about a date that would be long over by the time we went to court. The money would have been sitting in trust all along and the judge would probably ask him why his was wasting his time.

Weedy, you need to make sure your understand the clause. It typically doesn't say the agent gets a commission if the house is sold during the extension. It says if it is sold to some one that is the result of the agent's efforts, eg some one that looked at the house when it was listed. If it is listed with a different agent, the clause does not apply. The purpose is to prevent sleazy people from saying to a buyer, "Hey, my listing expires in x amount of time. Come back then, and I'll sell it to you for less without the agent." Yes, it does protect the agent. I think the clause was for 180 days in this state. Like all aspects of contracts, this is negotiable. That this scenario would actually happen is rare. When I worked as an agent, I would list the names of any buyers shown during the FSBO period and exclude them for 10-14 days. They were all contacted. In theory, it would "force" the buyers to make an offer or not. Not once did a buyer that had seen a property while FSBO buy it within that time period or later.

Why not the previous damage? Did the addendum really negate the Risk of Loss section? How did the seller's agent get this info? Shouldn't the bank formally respond to your addendum regarding repairs? To your previous question: Any lien or outstanding taxes should show up in the title search. Also, the contract should spell out that the bank is responsible for any taxes that accrue until the date of closing. This should show up in your HUD sheet. Also, the transfer and recordation taxes that are due with your purchase. Usually, the bank won't pay any, but they've been known to make mistakes. @nc: I'm assuming that they didn't market the property until they owned it, but who knows how long it takes for the deed to show up in the records....

"Can I sue builder just because of a clause which said they had to sign the contract within 10 days and now asking for more money." Yes, you can sue the builder and for the low low price of $50,000 in attorney fees and a few years wasted, you could possibly get $30,000 discount on the home price. In the American system, each party pays their own attorney fees. Judges and contracts can change that but you really need to read the contract as a change could just as likely mean your paying the builder's attorney fees as his paying yours. "My assumption is it would not be easy for them to ask for price rise if they would have signed the agreement with me." Many contracts will have a clause that limits the builder's responsibility for things he can't control. So I would be mildly surprised if your assumption is correct. Lumber prices are up 21% in the last 7 days and 49% in the last month. I suspect the builder would have the right to increase your house price anyway and may have the right to increase it again. Furthermore, I am not sure the lot hold isn't cancellable by the builder. If your builder has the right to cancel the agreement then it is practically worthless. ETA: a lot hold is a contract unless it can be cancelled.