house dilemma with the sellers

cutehumor · 19 April 2010 at 11:56PM

We bought our first home and close on 4/30. Well, my buyer agent calls me today and says that the seller cleaned the koi pond at the house and says the bill is $500. The seller wants me to pay for it or give 4 koi fish to the koi pond cleaning guy and he will charge $250 instead. The seller did not ask for my permission and did not notify my agent that the koi pond was being cleaned or of any charges. He notified us after he had the koi pond cleaned. Will I be legally responsible to pay this koi pond cleaning guy $500??

Our walkthrough is 4/23 and the seller is supposed to show me how to operate the koi pond pump. My agent knew I was pretty upset on the phone, he said he will not bring it up at closing. Seriously, I'm picturing being harassed about this $500 bill from the cleaning folks who did the work. The seller is moving out of state. anyone have any experience with a situation like this?

diable · 20 April 2010 at 12:07AM

Something fishy going here........

Zelie · 20 April 2010 at 12:11AM

I'd suggest you go to an American board. Very few people here will be able to give you the advice you are seeking.

tabskitten · 20 April 2010 at 12:13AM

We will quite happily ''yank bash'' through....!
Do stay!

Cat695 · 20 April 2010 at 12:46AM

the seller wants you to pay for something you don't own yet......only in America the land of the free!

jenny74 · 20 April 2010 at 8:31AM

Hi,

We are a friendly bunch, really! Just not up on American property law! In the uk, any request for work by the vendor (seller) would make him responsible for the costs. The contractor would have no comeback to the buyer as he formed no part of the agreement with him. Not sure that helps you though!

not_loaded · 20 April 2010 at 9:09AM

Looking at your dates you presumably do not actually own the property until 23rd or later. If he currently books work and has it done, it’s his bill to pay. If somehow you DO own it, then he’s not legally able to book work on your behalf.

I’m selling and have a potential buyer. I’m just getting the trees pruned professionally and I’m paying for it. There’s no way morally or legally that I could pass the cost on to anyone. I could of course leave the trees alone ie: unpruned. He could have left the pond alone, but he chose to have work done on it.

I’d revisit and count the fish as they’re valuable! I’ve heard of koi disappearing at the point of sale, and the vendor saying it’s down to ‘predators’. There’s more than one type of predator around when houses are being sold.

silvercar · 20 April 2010 at 10:16AM

I wouldn't have thought that fish were fixtures or fittings.

not_loaded · 20 April 2010 at 10:25AM

It’s an identical position to heating oil in a tank really. Either you’re leaving it full, or half full or whatever. As the buyer you need to know what you’re getting.