When a couple bought their beautiful four-bedroom house in Riverside, California, they never realized that the seller would suddenly refuse to give up the keys and move out at the end of the escrow process.
According to Fox 5 NY, that’s exactly what happened to Tracie and Myles Albert when the seller refused to leave in an eviction moratorium loophole.
“It’s just draining, emotionally and financially,” Tracie said. The couple bought the home on January 31, 2020. Now more than a year later, they still haven’t been able to get inside their property.
The Real Estate Agent who sold the Alberts the home explained that the buyer was looking to sell his home quickly.
“He needed $560,000 from the sale of his house in two weeks, and he called me on a Sunday, so in traditional real estate, there’s no way of doing that unless the buyer’s a cash buyer,” Chris Taylor, the Real Estate Agent who sold the house said.
Since the home was free and clear and seemed like a steal, worth more than $560,000, the Alberts felt it was a great deal and jumped on it.
“It took us scrambling to get everything we had, our life savings put together, and a hard money loan on top of it to make that happen,” Myles explained.
While the escrow process was delayed due to a $30,000 lien on the house, the couple was able to complete the sale and was ready to move in.
“We own the house, outright. That’s our house, and it’s all in a contract, written, legal, done. He’s been paid the money in his account. How could we have no rights to go into our home,” Myles asked.
The Taylor’s closed on their home in January 2020 and have gone as far as contacting authorities to assist with removing the seller, but because of the pandemic, they’ve gotten nowhere.
“They have this case under a COVID tenant situation, of no evictions when it doesn’t fall under that at all. This transaction went through in January 2020 before any of that, it isn’t a renter who was getting thrown out. It’s the guy who collected all of this money,” stated Myles.
The couple filed an unlawful detainer, but the case has been stalled because of the California eviction moratorium, and the seller has refused to move.
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