Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Connecticut

I am trying to close on a house in CT. Now the owners say they cannot be out of the house in time. I want to force closing to occur on time and I do not want to give them the opportunity to remain in the house after closing. Do I have any options?


Asked on 6/11/16, 1:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

John Heffernan Heffernan Legal Group, LLP

In CT, unless the magic words "time is of the essence" are in the contract, the seller has a "reasonable" time to close after the date for closing stated in the contract. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances, but is usually two weeks to a month. A buyer can make it a "time is of the essence" contract after the fact by notifying the seller that you consider some date (like June 22nd) to be "of the essence". But whatever date you choose also has to be reasonable under the circumstances. But all that really gets you is the ability to back out of the deal and get your deposit back. No court, for example, is going to send the gendarmes to the house to forcibly eject the sellers.

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Answered on 6/13/16, 10:09 am


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