Don't be too hard on yourself. I once had an agent pushing to let a buyer move in before they had gotten the loan. Real estate agents - their concern is making the sale. Chances are the previous owners didn't find a new place for themselves and need a place to stay. I really hope it all goes well for you. Good luck!

Make sure you are fully insured to cover anything that might go wrong with the property or with the ex-owners getting injured on YOUR property.

Will your Mortgage Lender even allow it? "Owner occupied?"

Saltidawg - good point!

I didn't send those papers to my lender yet, but the realtor told me textually "Do not send the addendum to the lender, he doesn't care about that and is not his business at all".

Boy, that realtor is sounding shakier and shakier. "he doesn't care about that and is not his business at all" - the lender cares about everything!! And if it is part of the sale/loan agreement/title, it most certainly IS his business.

Typically the originals of all closing docs are retained by the escrow or title company conducting the closing and then forwarded to the lender. You just get copies. This is an "addendum" to what?? I'm surprised the title company or whoever oversaw the closing would not question this and I see no reason why it wouldn't get forwarded to the lender with the rest of the docs. The bank still has the say on whether or not the loan gets funded and it won't be officially yours until the rescission period passes and the loan recorded.

I'd contact a real estate attorney and see if you still couldn't get out of this crazy agreement!!

I routinely advise my buyers to never allow sellers to stay after the closing. Too many variables that can cause trouble for either party. And if you do, you need to treat them as renters by having a short term lease signed by both parties.

Oh, well she sent the papers to the title company and they apparently approved it. But she encouraged me to not send it to the lender. Actually, she sounds very upset when told me that.

We allowed the sellers of our house to stay for 6 weeks. I have no memory of whether we were compensated. They needed time to move the 150 rose bushes in the back yard (told them to leave 5), and the 8 foot tall compost pile etc. We were not moving from a distant state until then anyway. I actually preferred the house being occupied. It just wasn't a big deal at all.

"I only can out from the contract if the inspection goes bad, otherwise, I lose the $ 4k given to them as bona fidei.

Are you saying even if you could not get the mortgage, you still could not get out of the contract and would have to lose $4k deposit?

I'm pre-approved for up to 400k and the property I intend to buy is only 130k, and I will give a 30k down payment, the lender will not approve the mortgage if the house does not pass the inspection or the appraisal but, technically they already approved the loan (i think so). I guess that if for any reason they do not accept it, the contract will cancel, but I'm not sure what happens to my deposit because my realtor told me that they legally can't keep the money unless I broke the contract negligently, but as I already sign that I agree with the occupation after the closing then I can not leave the contract for that reason. To add something I really want that house, is the perfect one for me and was really hard to found it at that condition/ price, I don't really have any problem to allow they stay 15 days because I don't need the house immediately and the sellers look very kind and decent people that why I accepted the petition, the problem here is that my realtor never warning me about the consequences could happen and she made me sign a contract that does not protect my interest at all and put me at risk. And yes, unfortunately, I can't change it and that's why I want to know what I can do in the case that something bad goes out.

In concrete: to know why my realtor DO NOT want to send the addendum to my lender, and in the case that she excludes it from his knowledge how it will affect to me?

We too were going to allow the people that we purchased this house from additional weeks to move. Exactly for the reason we did not want the house to be vacant more than a couple of days before we could move. They did move before the date of possession.

Like a couple posters above, I allowed the sellers to stay short-term after closing. It originally was supposed to be for a couple weeks, but they had a problem with the closing on the house they were going to move into, so they asked for an extension of another month. It was fine with us, since we hadn't closed the sale of our old house yet so didn't have to rush to vacate. However, rent was collected for the entire duration of their time stayed - 1/30th of my mortgage for each day past closing they stayed, and they did move out after the month-long extension with no headache. Easy money. :0)

I'm a Realtor in Florida and I can tell you that not submitting the post-closing occupancy addendum is considered mortgage fraud. Your Realtor should know better - it is clearly an ethical violation IMO and I think it may even be illegal. Send the contract with the addendum now to your loan officer or processor.

Send the entire contract, with all addenda to the lender. It isn't up to the title co - but the mortgage co will care. Having said that, the most common time period required as mandatory occupancy by the new owner of a primary residence is 60 days. Not even 61 days is allowed for post closing seller occupancy.

If you decide to allow the post closing 15 day occupancy, have the seller sign a lease before closing. Have the rent amount specified for the 15 day occupancy even if it is for a nominal amount. Then specify a huge rental amount in the lease if they stay longer than 15 days - this encourages them to vacate on time. We Realtors have standard lease forms that can be used for this purpose - only one form in the entire state is approved for Realtors to use. Otherwise, you need an attorney to prepare the lease.

I'm not an attorney. You should get one based on your post. One that represents you. Not the title company's attorney. Not the seller's attorney. Get one now. They are not expensive for contract review.

One more comment: If you signed the standard form Florida AS IS contract with an inspection period, you can cancel the contract at any time during the inspection period for any reason, or even no reason, at your sole discretion. Read paragraph 12 and discuss with your real estate attorney (did I say you need one yet?). Your agent has given you some bad info - unless you have signed a different contract.

Have a chat with your Realtor. I would report your Realtor to her broker. The broker wants to know when something is going on that doesn't follow the ethics and legal side of the real estate business. The broker will handle it from his/her end, but report that agent. She either doesn't know (which sounds incredible) or is deceitful. Those type of agents need training or to lose their license.

The solution is to send all the documents including the one your realtor doesn't want you to send, to the mortgage lender. Don't tell the realtor you did it.

They will raise the red flag and not allow the addendum. So if the sellers want to sell the house, they have to leave at closing.

Then report this to the Real Estate Commission.

The Realtor has no power to stop the addendum from going to the lender.

The loan officer has a relationship with the buyer/borrower, not the Realtor. Even if the Realtor knows the lender well and referred the lender to the buyer, there is a specific loan officer relationship that the Realtor can not interfere in...

Good idea to report that Realtor without ethics to the Real Estate Commission.

The lender may allow the 15 day post closing occupancy by the seller - but the buyer would need to have another addendum cancelling out sellers post closing possession if the buyer doesn't want to allow it. You are taking a risk. Get that real estate attorney working for you today OP.

Your realtor has convinced you to sign a contract you realize did not serve your best interests and you are not comfortable with. Now the realtor says don't sent all the docs to your lender (basically advising you to commit a fraud on the lender). Send everything to the lender, read your contract (here in Texas, and I read above in FL too, inspections are done during an option period in which the buyer can cancel for any reason) and talk to an attorney. My guess is there is more than one way out of this mess, but you have to do the legwork to get there. And you always have the option to walk. Worst case would seem to be refusing to close without immediate possession and losing $4,000 in order to protect $139,000 -- not great, but not a disaster if you can truly afford a $400,000 loan.

Get yourself out of this mess, report the realtor (to any state board and to any broker they are working through) and then get educated a bit before you start working with a new realtor. No one should go into buying a home -- usually the largest financial commitment they will make, without understanding what they are doing, what the short and long term obligations and impacts are, whether they are being asked to do something unnecessary or unusual and what the risks are.

Once you have transferred ownership of the home you no longer have an insurable interest in it. Any claims made after the sale will be denied. The new owner's would need to make any claims with their own insurance company.

The OP is the purchaser, not the seller!!

In concrete: to know why my realtor DO NOT want to send the addendum to my lender, and in the case that she excludes it from his knowledge how it will affect to me?

I'm guessing that would be fraud and if something happened the bank could take legal action against you.

Why is everyone referring to "your realtor?" In my state (NY) the realtor works for the seller. They may show you many houses snd negotiate for you ((buyer) but they legally represent the seller becsuse that's who pays their commission The exception is when you hire a realtor to act as a buyers agent. I don't know if this information is relevant to your situation.

English is obviously not Sarah Sar's first language. It must be very confusing.

To Sarah Sar: If you don't want to buy the house, you can get out of the contract. It sounds like you want to still buy the house. The inspection phase of the purchase allows you to get out of the contract and get your money back for any reason. Is that what you want? If yes, tell your agent.

Are you willing to let the seller live in the house for 15 days after you buy the house? If yes, tell your realtor. If no, tell your realtor.

If you are willing to allow them to stay 15 days after the closing, tell your realtor that you want legal protections in place to keep them from staying longer than the 15 days. A good way to do this is a rental agreement with penalties.

There is no longer any issue with any addendums not being provided to the mortgage company. The buyer says that it has been provided. The mortgage company appears to have no problems.

It's hard to buy a house. It's even harder to buy a house in a different state. It's even harder to buy a house in the US when English is not your first language. Everyone needs to have a little patience. This is going to turn out okay.

Sarah Sar, talk to your agent. If you are not satisfied, you can talk to your agent's boss or you can hire a real estate attorney to help you. Don't do anything that you don't want to do or don't understand.

@SaltiDawg - no, the buyer can cancel the contract in the buyer's sole discretion during the inspection period. I'm sorry I wasn't more specific. I thought the OP was a buyer and not the seller in this transaction. Please correct me if I am wrong

It is only on that Florida FAR/BAR AS IS version 5 Rev 4/17 Contract for Sale and Purchase in paragraph 12 - unless modified by the parties.

@kitasel, NY is different. We have various types of real estate representation. Many, many years ago (like 20 years) the agency relationships were defined differently in Florida than elsewhere. We have 'transaction agent', 'non-representation type agents and 'single agents' (represent either a buyer or a seller but not both). Each agency type has different duties. Single agency is a fiduciary duty to the client - but not the other types of representation.

Other states have also changed their agency relationships. NY is way behind the curve on this one where all agents represent the seller including those that show buyers property (those are sub-agents of the seller in NY, not Florida).

Denita,

You were fine. I got confused. I deleted my post, but I'm afraid the damage is done.

Just looked again. With my post deleted I don't think a future reader of this thread will have any problem.

Thanks Denita for your time to answer me.

I have an extra question for you:

I hire her to do all her job that includes communication with my lender, make all the paperwork, send all required papers, negotiation, etc. Then if she is negligent and that results in a sue against to me (legally) can I can sue her in a court right?

"The inspection phase of the purchase allows you to get out of the contract and get your money back for any reason."

Please enlighten me as I thought if the inspection result is satisfied, or if the seller agrees to fix any request for repairing, it would be difficult for the buyer to get out of the contract.

Sarah, getting into a lawsuit in the USA is extremely expensive and time consuming. Easily, it would cost way more than the $4k deposit if you "may have" to lose.

Please do anything you could to avoid it. Find a good real estate attorney now is much cost effective and will give you the necessary protection.

What is the best way to find a Good real estate attorney quickly such as in a situation that Sarah is in?

If there is anything mentioned in the Inspection, as buyer you could walk based on the existence of that anything. There is no requirement to offer the seller the opportunity to repair the anything.

I am not aware of any requirement for you to disclose either the inspection report nor disclose the anything to the seller.

@azmom: If the form is the one I have mentioned a couple of times above, it is not necessary to have the inspections come back with a defect to excersize this termination. I have not seen this broad an approach in other standard real estate P&S forms - but then again, I'm not an attorney and I only work in Florida. I have seen contracts in other states, (AZ and VA) but they don't have the same type of language.

Think of this as a "due diligence" paragraph for X days. You negotiate the days in the due diligence period while negotiating the contract. Here is the part of the clause I am referring to in the OP's contract form only if she is using this form. I don't know what form her agent used. The AS IS form is most commonly used here in S Florida. See clause below:

"PROPERTY INSPECTIONS AND RIGHT TO CANCEL: Buyer shall have ____

(if left blank, then 15) days after Effective Date ("Inspection Period") within which to have such inspections of the Property performed as Buyer shall desire during the Inspection Period. If Buyer determines, in Buyer's sole discretion, that the Property is not acceptable to Buyer, Buyer may terminate this Contract by delivering written notice of such election to Seller prior to expiration of Inspection Period. If Buyer timely terminates this Contract, the Deposit paid shall be returned to Buyer, thereupon, Buyer and Seller shall be released of all further obligations under this Contract; however, Buyer shall be responsible for prompt payment for such inspections, for repair of damage to, and restoration of, the Property resulting from such inspections, and shall provide Seller with paid receipts for all work done on the Property (the preceding provision shall survive termination of this Contract). Unless Buyer exercises the right to terminate granted herein, Buyer accepts the physical condition of the Property and any violation of governmental, building, environmental, and safety codes, restrictions, or requirements, but subject to Seller's continuing AS IS Maintenance Requirement, and Buyer shall be responsible for any and all repairs and improvements required by Buyer's lender."

FYI, it is also common to negotiate some repairs or a credit if the house has physical issues. Some issues can't be fixed (eg HOA financial issues) so it is best to cancel during the due diligence period. This particular form keeps the repair negotiations to something reasonable (usually).

To find a good real estate attorney she can check with friends, family and her agent's broker. Or she can pm me and I can refer a couple of excellent real estate attorney's in FL. I am hesitant to have her ask her agent because of the inappropriate info provided by her agent so far.

@Sarah Sar - you asked the following question:

I hire her to do all her job that includes communication with my lender, make all the paperwork, send all required papers, negotiation, etc. Then if she is negligent and that results in a sue against to me (legally) can I can sue her in a court right?

Your agent can work with your lender for status only. You are the point person that needs to communicate with the lender, either the lenders processor or loan officer must get the information they need from you directly. You don't want any miscommunication with your loan terms and progress.

azmom is right about lawsuits. They are expensive and are not necessarily beneficial to you. The entire reason for getting an attorney on the front end of a purchase is so you don't have to get involved with a lawsuit.

Sarah, you said, "I hire her to do all her job that includes communication with my lender, make all the paperwork, send all required papers, negotiation,
etc."

No, it doesn't work that way. No, you have not hired her, unless she is acting as a Buyer's Agent, and it doesn't sound like she is. It sounds to me like she is working for the SELLER, as a Seller's Agent. (And if you really have hired her - if you are directly paying her money to help you - I believe she is probably breaking all kinds of laws by taking money from both the buyer and the seller.)

And realtors DO NOT communicate with your lender.

Ok thanks for your answer, I going to try to see what can I do, look it is what the addendum says:

Both Buyer & Seller Agree that the Buyer will give seller post occupancy after closing date until (specified date) at no charge. All other terms and conditions of the original contract remain unchanged.

What I can do if they stay longer, I have to evict them as my tenants or just need to call the police and they do the job? (like trespassing charge)

What I can do if they stay longer, I have to evict them as my tenants or just need to call the police and they do the job? (like trespassing charge)

You have to evict them (at least in states that I know about). You get an attorney to file an unlawful detainer action (an eviction). One great thing about evictions, is that they are common enough that they are relatively cheap to file, any mid sized firm will have a guy who does evictions and he might do several at one time. My attorney charges a flat $450 for an eviction and the entire process is done in 2 weeks (we have rather fast evictions). A demand letter submitted and after 7 days the detainer can be filed and they have 7 days to move, after that time I can call the sheriff and remove them. Some states make you wait longer, in certain circumstances, but I am only familiar with evictions under a lease and not really familiar with them in a lease-back situation.

I suspect that most lease-backs end up moved out before the detainer becomes necessary.

^exactly why you want the seller and you to both sign a lease before closing - even if the 15 days is a rental for one dollar or other nominal consideration.

When we sold our vacation home (to someone we knew and without a realtor) they wanted to close months before we wanted to move out. They didn't need to take possession, just wanted to lock in their financing. We did the deal with just a real estate attorney, not a realtor. He immediately informed us that we needed to sign a lease (even though we weren't paying any rent to seller) to protect ourselves as the property was no longer ours once we closed. A bigger deal in our case because we were there for a few months, not 15 days. It did include terms about who would be responsible for repairing things if something broke down during this time. If it was under $500 it was us, if it was over $500 it was the buyer. The water softener died and we ended up replacing it with a rent to buy unit and the buyer was fine with that.

If that is all it says, there is not a time limit. You couldn't even evict them. Get a lawyer, please. You need someone in the same place you are, seeing all the same papers and talking to all the same people, looking out for your interests and we can't do that from a thousand different places on the web. I don't know if you don't understand or if your communication in English is lacking, but I am suspecting both. Could all be fine, but either one or both make you ripe for someone taking advantage and makes me more concerned.

Simplest thing to do is to make any repair requests or adjustments resulting from the inspection and demand the closing date be pushed back 15 days with occupancy upon closing. Period. Have them out of there or terminate the contract.

We bought this house and just before close we got the call that owner would need 2 weeks after close. Her nephews were moving her and needed the extra time. We agreed and asked for no $ or a lease. It turned out fine.

Your situation might do the same. Have faith.

If that is all it says, there is not a time limit. You couldn't even evict them.

----------

Both Buyer & Seller Agree that the Buyer will give seller post occupancy after closing date until (specified date)

That specified date is a time limit. You can absolutely evict them after that date. Whether or not you need terms beyond that date is something I will not get into. There are positives and negatives to terms beyond that date.

If "specified date" is left blank at closing, I don't think the addendum would be enforceable and you could evict immediately, although I would still wait the 15 days.

Dear lascatx in the part that says : (specified date) there is the date that they have to leave my house, I just put that way because I didn't want to post here the exact date, but yeah there is a specific date which is 15 days after the closing. I live in the same city where the house is, and I'll get a lawyer. Thanks for your recommendation.
Btw English is not my native language but I'm trying to write as best as I can to make you all understand, sorry if something is confusing.

Ezrin,

Don't worry about your English, as we all understand what you wrote. I bet 99% of us could not write in your native lauagnge.

The problem you have is not your language, instead, it is your realtor. As handling lease back paper work is not that complicate. It is a good idea to get a lawyer now. Please ask any questions you may have, as many posters have tons of experience in real estate.

Best luck!

Many thanks to Salti and Denita for answering my questions.

You should also speak with your insurance agent about Homeowner's insurance.

When we purchased our current home the seller asked if he could stay for 2 extra weeks - he even offered to pay 4 week's rent. We weren't interested because we had a contractor lined up to start renovation. But I happened to mention it to my insurance broker when we were reviewing coverage for our new home - she said our policy specifies 'owner occupied' . She said we'd need to add a special clause in our policy to make sure we had coverage in case there was damage.

I was not clear whether you were intending to not disclose the date or if one had not been included. That's fine and I am glad one was specified -- this deal i just so wonky that I don't trust your agent.

And no criticism intended on your native language or English skills. I hope that was clear. As suggested above, I would certainly do far worse in ANY other language. The issue is getting someone to make sure you understand the situation you are in, what your options are and what the risks are so that you can make an informed decision. Your agent should be doing that even if their commission is paid by the seller. I am especially concerned about the suggestion that you not include the addendum in the documents you send to your lender. That is not okay. That is hiding a significant risk to the lender as well as to you and that can be a fraud -- even if not meant to defraud the lender. It does also raise insurance issues and more -- even beyond the risk of the seller not leaving when they are supposed to or them trashing the place and leaving it worse condition than you bought it in. It is not so simple as your agent might have led you to believe. It can go well. It can go bad. It can go very bad. But there should be a very real reason for not simply delaying the closing 15 days and taking possession then -- and you need to know why, agree to it, know the risks, have your lender and your insurance company know the risk and any of their concerns and yours be addressed if you close before possession.

Don't forget about your insurance company. You probably got a binder from the insurance company based on owner occupied. If someone else is living there, you are a landlord. What if they burn the house down? Or a pipe bursts and floods the house? What is they accidentally fall on the property? Are you insured for all these possible accidents?

It most likely varies state to state but I have friends in ct who allowed the seller to stay for one month at a fee after closing. The seller, an attorney, knowing how pro renter connecticut's laws are, never paid rent nor moved on the specified date. My friend had to file for eviction which took well over 18 months and he had to continue to pay the mortgage, taxes, insurance, lawyer fees and a rent for a place for his family while receiving no rent from the evictee. Do not close on this.

My attorney charges a flat $450 for an eviction and the entire process is done in 2 weeks

In our jurisdiction, count on a minimum six months from first filing to the day the Sheriff literally arrives on the front steps. I've had to do this as a landlord and mortgage administrator several times. Even saw one where the tenant refused the Sheriff's orders and the police had to be called to carry her kicking and screaming into the police cruiser.

The eviction process will vary from state to state, just as real estate laws do. In my state, the entire process can be accomplished in 3 weeks, although sometimes will take longer (with creative legal intervention on the part of the tenant).

The attorney you consult with regarding this tenancy after closing clause can advise you on whether this is a reasonable recourse for you. It should be......this is what it was intended for.

I'm late to this conversation, but for future viewers-

-- It isn't that unusual to have a rent back of a property- allow them time for whatever reason. I once did it for 4 months- over asking in the first day, and the buyers wanted it badly enough to give us the time.

--- When this happens, it's customary and protective to all to execute a short term rental contract, which we did. A start date, a hard end date. The bit of rent charged, given to owners at escrow. As long as it's legal, lenders are typically fine.

--- I can, however, attest to some very weird "happenings" in our closing with the above house.. This was a state where the sellers and buyers go in separately. We sat down, and as is too often the case, everybody was in an all fired hurry to blow through paperwork. We insisted on actually reading.

Sure enough, it said right in the closing docs that NO RENTAL agreement had been executed. So we stopped closing, until the language was changed to reflect what was going on.

BTW: For a seller who agrees to a rent-back, it's a good idea to include in the short term rental contract a requirement for renter's insurance. Doesn't totally protect the property, but avoids any claims on any damage of personal goods.

I'm late to this too, but wondering if using an escrow account would help. For example, part of the purchase price goes into escrow and will only be paid when the sellers move out and an additional inspection is done. (Ideally I'd like some of the realtor's commission or pay in escrow too, so that she has a vested interest in making the buyer happy. But not sure how that would work since the commission comes from the seller, not the buyer. Not sure if the OP is paying the realtor.)

Ezrin San, I'm glad that you decided to get an attorney to help you. Please have that person at the closing with you and if they can't come for some reason, bring a trusted friend or relative. I'm worried that the realtor and seller will try to persuade you to do something that's not in your best interest. Signing all the papers can be overwhelming for anyone, and it will be good to have someone with you.

chicagoans, just for your information, the commission belongs to the Realtor's broker, not the Realtor.

And commission is dispersed at the signing of closing and the verification of the buyer's funds being wired to attorney or title company, not at the termination of a rental lease that the agent is not a principal of.