Hagen Law Firm of Southwest Florida is representing numerous buyers and sellers of homes damaged in Hurricane Ian. Some sales are realtor deals, others are “FSBOs.” We strongly urge all parties to have attorney representation during contract negotiation, or to at least make the contract contingent upon attorney review within 3 business days of effective date.
Although many simple, straightforward, non-hurricane damaged home transactions do not involve attorneys, the risk and potential for costly errors or unanticipated issues are MUCH higher with damaged homes. Use of standard clauses without proper customization can cause major conflicts, for example, the standard As-Is Contract requires the seller to provide utilities all “on” for the buyer’s inspection. If the hurricane damaged home does not have working electricity (often the case on Fort Myers Beach, SW FL), then the Seller could be forced to expend thousands to replace inoperative electrical systems or to breach the Contract.
Another typical Contract “snafu” is the buyer who waives the inspection only to find HUGE issues with 50% rule hurdles, mold, or rebuilding costs that far exceed his expectation.
Finally, buyers are often unaware that insurance will not be available or that lenders “won’t touch” a loan on a hurricane damaged home.
Hagen Law Firm is pleased to provide customized advice to parties in damaged home scenarios.