What if the seller leaves a mess?

This is part two (of two) on how clean a house should be when the buyers take possession.

It can happen that a seller leaves a house an absolute mess; trash and debris, old paint and chemicals in the basement or garage, rubbish in the yard, old food in the fridge, and so on.  This is NOT how it should be.  Every once in awhile, in a competitive situation, and if the buyer is planning to have a bunch of work done before moving in, a buyer will stipulate in an offer, that the seller may take what they want and leave the rest.  This is an exception.

While some offers contain the provision for a walk through of the property prior to closing, our standard sale agreement does not provide for this, and the closing is not subject to the buyer's satisfaction with the property before closing.  AND, the  seller wouldn't yet have vacated the property, so a buyer walk through wouldn't show the what the property would look like after closing.

So, what remedies are available to the buyer?  If the seller merely ran out of time, the buyer might agree to get the house a day or so late; giving the seller time to clean it up. The seller must be a willing participant in this scenario.

Sometimes the buyer's and seller's agents will combine forces to deal with the situation themselves, or one or the other of them will deal with it.  This is the glamorous side of real estate; you know, hauling some one else's rubbish up from a creepy basement, or cleaning spoiled food from a refrigerator.

Often, in these cases, the seller is not a willing participant.  The buyer may be stuck dealing with it themselves, and would use the dispute resolution systems to recoup their cost. This most often would be a small claims court procedure; no lawyers and pretty quick.

Having a seller leave the property in less than good condition is not how  we, as agents, want the transaction to end; leaving a sour taste for everyone.  We set expectations early, and offer a variety of resources to help a seller vacate on time and properly.  We're also realistic with buyers, and encourage all buyers to give themselves at least a few days between occupying their new home and vacating their previous abode.