Disclosures that Buyers Should be Aware of in Their New Condominium Purchase Contracts

Information on Developer Delays and Termination Rights with Attorney Roy Oppenheim

Full Transcript: Hi there, Attorney Roy Oppenheim from Oppenheim Law. I want to discuss a little bit about folks who are entering into contracts to buy condominiums or other kinds of real estate but I want to specifically reference condominiums. A lot of times these condos have a certain amount of time to deliver the property. Sometimes they can deliver it in two years, but typically, it goes out as much as five years. And in some cases, the developer will promise it in two years, but really has five years to do so. But if they exceed those five years then in fact, you are entitled to your money back under certain state and federal laws. And so one of the things we do when we’re working with folks is to see whether or not they are still interested in proceeding with their contract because a lot of times time gets in the way, life gets in the way of changes and decisions that you’ve made. You decide you’re going to live here and then you decide you’re going to live somewhere else, something happens to your family and or someone gets sick and the circumstances change. And so sometimes people are trying to find ways to get out of a contract and there are different ways to get out of a condominium contract. Sometimes you can assign your contract to a third party. Sometimes you can assign it back to the developer sometimes for a small fee. And other times, we can find ways that there were improper disclosures, material disclosures that were not made to you as a buyer and thus because of that your rights to actually get out of the contract exist. And so what could be material disclosures? Well, one kind of disclosure could be that you’re near a dump or that there are certain noises that are occurring that the developer should have told you about in some circumstances or maybe that indium[SP] remains had been found and the developers should have indicated that they knew that and should have told you that. But there all different kinds of circumstances that the developer has an obligation to disclose to you in the developer documents. And if they don’t, you have the right to revoke and terminate the agreement, after they amend the agreement to reflect those changes. And then you have like 7 or 10 days to decide if you want to proceed. And in some cases, developers for whatever reason or their attorneys make decisions, sometimes it’s neglectful and sometimes it’s intentional where they don’t want to bring something to your attention and to the extent that we know that and find that out, we’re in the ability to negotiate with the developer to get your money back. But if prices have gone up over the years, which they have for the most part in Florida, you have an option actually at that point, to exercise and that you may be making a lot of money by keeping the contract. So you don’t want to necessarily jump and terminate your contract when you’re in the money. And so if you’re in the money, you know, maybe time is on your side. But sometimes because circumstances change and you want out, there are ways for us to evaluate and look at your rights as a purchaser of a condominium that’s not completed. So if you have any questions about this, please fill this up a consult with the lawyers at Oppenheim Law. Roy Oppenheim from the trenches.