Canceled Purchase Agreement

**yourhighness123** · 06-10-2008, 12:41 PM

Need some insight on a contract that i just canceled. The house was being built, and now is built. We put down about 1%, which the contractor agreed to and is in the contract. In the process of building, we all agreed that any changes to the scope would be agreed to and added to the price. well changes we made to the scope, but nothing was ever agreed to (ie: we asked about adding chair rails and some additional paint, but the work was done before we ever found out how much or agreed to it). So the house gets built, our financial outlook changes and I have to cancel the contract. Now the builder is saying he did changes that add up to more than $1500 of the earnest money deposit which I told him he could have because we are technically defaulting. He said he wants to sue me and is contacting his RE. How real is that? Can he sue me for the changes the the earnest money didn't cover, even though I contest the changes and theres no record of agreement to the changes? I'm scared that he may make this difficult. Any ideas on where he can go with this legally?

**jamesww** · 06-11-2008, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by yourhighness123

Need some insight on a contract that i just canceled. The house was being built, and now is built. We put down about 1%, which the contractor agreed to and is in the contract. In the process of building, we all agreed that any changes to the scope would be agreed to and added to the price. well changes we made to the scope, but nothing was ever agreed to (ie: we asked about adding chair rails and some additional paint, but the work was done before we ever found out how much or agreed to it). So the house gets built, our financial outlook changes and I have to cancel the contract. Now the builder is saying he did changes that add up to more than $1500 of the earnest money deposit which I told him he could have because we are technically defaulting. He said he wants to sue me and is contacting his RE. How real is that? Can he sue me for the changes the the earnest money didn't cover, even though I contest the changes and theres no record of agreement to the changes? I'm scared that he may make this difficult. Any ideas on where he can go with this legally?

As long as you didn't put anything in writing he doesn't have a leg to stand on. And if he looses then you can charge him for attorney's fees. Now he can sue you it is just wheather he can win or not.

**yourhighness123** · 06-11-2008, 02:00 PM

Thanks for responding. Curious though, I did verbally agree to some of the changes, some in an email, some verbally, but none were added to the contract. The total of the changes I agreed to were far less than the amount of the earnest money. Shouldn't he be happy with the earnest money, or do I owe him for the changes that I "agreed" to?