Selling house - buyer has credit issue

[fireant911]

We recently placed our home for sale. Amazingly, we received a firm offer on this home after just six days - we promptly accepted this offer and the contract was drawn up. The prospective buyer was preapproved and everything was progressing along nicely. The closing date was scheduled for June 15. During the 'in-between' time, the home inspection, termite inspection, home appraisal, and other preclosing-type activities were performed. Everything looked great until we received a phone call from our realtor two days before the scheduled date of closing... We were informed then that "the deal was off" because the prospective buyer did not qualify for the loan.

A couple of days later, the seller’s (ours) and buyer’s (hers) realtors talked and the following was revealed: Apparently, earlier, the prospective buyer had made a purchase for an item that was going to be used for a business she was starting. She had then decided not to pursue this business and promptly returned the item. In dispute is a $5,000 charge from the vendor for this item that still appears on her credit report. She already had hired a lawyer regarding this charge so it can be removed from her credit report.

Our home, which had been removed from the MLS, has since been relisted as this first contract failed. There has already been an interest in this house after relisting and showings have already been conducted. It was communicated to us that the prospective buyer is very much interested in still buying our home. Her earnest money is still being held for this reason (all parties agreed to this though the original contract has already been voided).

Although this was a major setback, we are moving forward with selling our home to someone... anyone with the necessary cash/credit. We are not banking on closing the deal with the original prospective buyer because of the existing credit problem.

My wife and I have been pondering over the events and are seeking knowledgeable/experienced opinions regarding corrections to a person's credit report. Providing that the events described to us are real and that her purchase could be legally returned to the vendor, my question is simply this: How long does it take to remove purportedly false information on one’s credit report?

[skunked]

30 days from the time they have been notified. I just had to deal with this.....

[fireant911]

Mat,
Thanks!

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by skunked

30 days from the time they have been notified. I just had to deal with this.....

Minimum 30 days.

If creditor responds it could take longer.

The tactic that some of the credit fixing agencies use is to keep submitting over and over hoping that the creditor will eventually miss the response window.

It's a tactic to remove even a legitimate/earned credit ding.

[Christien]

30 days if everything goes smoothly. Several months if not. My company submits consumer reports to the credit bureau, so we've had to deal with corrections in the past. Not often, but mistakes happen. Ideally, the correction will reflect on their bureau report within a couple weeks, sometimes as quickly as 2 weeks. But I've seen issues where we've had to go back again and again to Equifax to have errors corrected or removed.

[legion]

I have friends that were on the other side of this same issue. They were pre-approved for $X. They went looking at houses. They made an offer on a house. They settled with the seller for a little less than the $X they were approved for.

They formally applied for a loan with the lender that gave them the pre-approval. They were denied the loan, being told that $X was far more than the lender was comfortable lending. They were floored.

Why were they pre-approved for $X if they weren't actually going to be loaned $X?

Fortunately, it was a local lender and they able to eventually argure their case before a vice president, who did approve their loan. Try doing that with a big, national lender.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I would keep moving forward with selling to someone else, the buyer's realtor has a vested interest in keeping you engaged and they will string you along as long as possible. My wife and I made it to within a week of closing on a house only to be informed via title search that it had a lien. Per the seller's realtor it was a "small" lien that the seller was working to quickly resolve. After two months of being led along by this realtor it was finally revealed that this was a $60,000 IRS lien for non-payment of taxes by the seller. They wasted two months of my time and nearly resulted in my then pregnant wife, toddler son, and myself being homeless because we had already cancelled our lease.

[GH85Carrera]

When we sold our last house we had a few people make offers that had no business trying to buy any house.

We discovered the principal "big hat no cattle" was common.

It was nice when a couple showed up with their 20 something daughter and the daughter needed a place to live. The dad was ready to write us a check on the spot. We took his deposit and he brought a proper bank check to the closing.

[A930Rocket]

That sucks. Hopefully it will sell and close asap.

Sold a house back in 2000. Moved out and was to close the next day. Got a call that the buyer lost his job. It was confirmed, and we re-listed. Sold it a week or two later. Stressful times...

Thus brings up the question of, do you move out before or after the closing? With 5 homes sold in 16 years, we've always moved out first.

[Zeke]

Apparently fireant's buyer's rep did not tell the buyer, "Don't do anything major financially." Some stupid people will go out and buy a car during the home purchase process. Well anyway, the buyer's rep deserves to lose their commission.

No one else is at fault. It's just one of those deals. That's how contracts should read. You fvk up, no soup for you.

[Dantilla]

I've learned that in real estate, it's not done until it is done- As in it has been recorded by the county, and the money is in the bank.

Even after everybody has signed closing docs, a sale can fall apart until it has been recorded.

[johnsjmc]

If you own the house you could give them a mortgage . If you can,t do that I hope you have a substantial deposit to keep. If the buyer only has one ding on their report they should be able to find other financing shouldn,t they ( but probably at a higher interest rate)which is why they want out.
I can,t imagine a $5000 return is the total problem either they vender tried collecting so long that they eventually wrote it off(R9) or the buyer had next to nothing down to start with.

[rattlsnak]

Originally Posted by skunked

30 days from the time they have been notified. I just had to deal with this.....

Just happened to me also, and the three big agencies all said a minimum of 30 days, but to expect 60 - 90 days..

[john70t]

Originally Posted by fireant911

How long does it take to remove purportedly false information on one’s credit report?

For me it was 11 years of economic slander.

[nikita76]

There are companies out there that specifically repair your credit with supporting documentation much faster than 60 or 90 days. We used it for my wife when an issue popped up that wasn't hers from college. A mortgage broker should be able to help with this. We used thhem when I was doing mortgages.
Sorry I can't remember the name.
Good luck!

ND

[skunked]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Just happened to me also, and the three big agencies all said a minimum of 30 days, but to expect 60 - 90 days..

I must have been lucky because it took them somewhere between 25-35 days to remove the fraud from my report.

[Rick Lee]

I had a credit issue I didn't know about and it caused my first-ever credit denial about a year ago. My bank doesn't tell me when my overdraft protection kicks in and there's no way to set up an email alert for it. Months earlier my wife bounced a big check to me because she didn't notice she had written it from an old checkbook on an account she rarely ever uses. I had paid the mortgage with my own check right after that and it took about $300 from my overdraft protection. Bank never told me and I never noticed it. When I got denied a new credit card (just wanted the 40k miles that came with it), they said I had been late on a payment. It was something like $30 and three mos. behind and I had never known it. I paid it all off right then and there, but the credit card co. said I had to wait another six mos. before reapplying.

[drcoastline]

If proof is sent that the dispute/mark on the report has been settled some lenders will over look the mark. I have had this on several occasions. Most of mine are small utility disputes revolving around rental properties. Tenants failure to pay their bills. Many utility compnaies (in NJ at least) will come after the landlord for the outstanding bill. I have had to settle (pay) some of those bills to have them over looked by the lender. Of course this was all before the 2008 banking debacle.

What all that means is if the buyer settles the dispute one way or another the lender may overlook the blemish on the credit report.

[chocolatelab]

You should tell your agent to make sure escrow doesn't give them their money back. If they signed all contingencies thats yours.

Worst case you should get half. Time is money. They wasted your time.

Don't let your agent blow it off.

[georgeinhere]

Can you say Lis Pendens? You take their money, they tie up your property...everyone gets hurt.

Originally Posted by chocolatelab

You should tell your agent to make sure escrow doesn't give them their money back. If they signed all contingencies thats yours.

Worst case you should get half. Time is money. They wasted your time.

Don't let your agent blow it off.