Common situations
- A last-minute refusal to close
- A title defect, lien or unexpected registration discovered on closing day
- Funds that are late, short or missing
- Suspected fraud or doubts about a party’s identity
- Registration or document problems that stop the deal from completing
What to do on the day
- Call your real estate lawyer and a litigation lawyer. Many closing-day problems can be contained if they are handled in the first few hours.
- Do not agree to anything verbally. Put every proposal and response in writing.
- Keep proof that you are ready to close, including funds, signed documents and correspondence.
- Consider a formal tender, which records that you were ready to complete and the other side was not.
- Preserve everything, including emails, texts and notes of calls with times.
Urgent court relief
- A motion on short notice for an injunction, or for a certificate of pending litigation, to prevent a sale to someone else
- A motion without notice to the other side, only in genuinely urgent cases and with full and fair disclosure
- An undertaking to pay damages if the order turns out to be unjustified, which is usually required for an injunction