The past few days have been a blur as we've tried to move into our new house, while also dealing with some very unexpected complications. We were supposed to take occupancy of our new house on February 5th, at noon. However we found out the day before that the seller wasn't planning on moving out then, and was vague on when she'd actually be out. We made contact with her realtor and she confirmed that we had our date correct and she tried reaching out to the seller to get things sorted (our realtor was in the U.P. and out of cell range).
What followed was a frustrating and disappointing interaction with the seller, who became increasingly erratic towards us. In a 40+ group chain text (us, the seller and both realtors), it became obvious that there was some real mental health issues in play. Towards the end of the text chain the seller was mostly incoherent and was threatening us. She also said that she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to sell the house (at this point we had owned the house for a month, but she was living in it due to a 30 day occupancy clause in our contract).
The situation was incredibly stressful-we had given up occupancy of our old house on the Friday before and our kids and cats were staying at my in-laws house, while Nick and I were sleeping on the basement floor of my sister-in-laws condo. All of our belongings were in 2 trailers parked at my in-laws, and to top things off Nick was sick and feeling miserable. Now we were faced with this mess and we had no idea if we'd actually get occupancy or if we'd have to do some sort of eviction process.
Our last text to the seller early Sunday morning was that we were willing to help her move any of her belongings that were still in the house, but we were going by the terms of the contract and would be taking possession at noon on the 5th. I won't repeat what her response was! Upon the recommendation of several family members and friends, we called the Ottawa County Sheriff's department and requested an escort for our initial arrival to the property. Due to the nature of the seller's texts her realtor told us she actually feared for our safety and no one knew what this person was actually capable of. Yikes!
We met a deputy, along with two state police officers, at a side road and drove to our new house at 12:15 on the 5th-what a sight we must have made! Behind the officers cars was a caravan of people coming to help us move in, along with my father-in-law driving in one of the trailers. I'm sure we made quite the impression on the neighbors! When we arrived we noticed right away that there was still a car in the garage so the officers directed us to stay in the driveway and they approached the house. It was something out of a scene in a movie-the officers had hands on holsters and they went in, in formation. Utterly surreal!
After fifteen minutes of going room to room and then sweeping the property we got the all-clear from the deputy. The seller was not on the premises and most of her belongings had been cleared out, including her dogs. The officers warned us that she had trashed the place and there was a lot of her stuff in the garage (which she had padlocked shut and then took the garage door opener). But, we were given permission to take possession of our new house! After going through that experience Nick and I were a bit shell shocked and we entered the house in a daze. What met us was heart breaking-
-she had dumped cleaning supplies and water on the kitchen floor
-there was smeared dog waste on the wood floors in the living room
-there was (human?) waste smeared on one of the bathrooms' walls
-she broke a lead stained glass window in the front entryway (rock was laying there, and the window was broken from the inside)
-she broke several spindles from the stairway railing leading upstairs
-all the antique brass doorknobs had been removed and taken
-she removed the tin decorative inserts on the living room fireplace
-all the window dressings, blinds and curtains, had been taken
-there were mattresses and debris thrown around the yard and driveway
And we still didn't know the condition of the garage. With heavy hearts we started cleaning up the mess. We were so blessed to have an amazing group of family and friends, including a few people from our church that I didn't even know, show up to help us unload trailers. There's no way we could have moved in without their help!
Per the deputy's instruction we put the sellers remaining belongings outside in front of the garage. I couldn't believe it when I opened the fridge and freezer and saw that they were completely full. The seller obviously had not be planning on moving out anytime soon. After everything was unloaded people started leaving and we were faced with what had happened, and the sick realization that the situation was not over yet.....
What followed was a frustrating and disappointing interaction with the seller, who became increasingly erratic towards us. In a 40+ group chain text (us, the seller and both realtors), it became obvious that there was some real mental health issues in play. Towards the end of the text chain the seller was mostly incoherent and was threatening us. She also said that she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to sell the house (at this point we had owned the house for a month, but she was living in it due to a 30 day occupancy clause in our contract).
The situation was incredibly stressful-we had given up occupancy of our old house on the Friday before and our kids and cats were staying at my in-laws house, while Nick and I were sleeping on the basement floor of my sister-in-laws condo. All of our belongings were in 2 trailers parked at my in-laws, and to top things off Nick was sick and feeling miserable. Now we were faced with this mess and we had no idea if we'd actually get occupancy or if we'd have to do some sort of eviction process.
Our last text to the seller early Sunday morning was that we were willing to help her move any of her belongings that were still in the house, but we were going by the terms of the contract and would be taking possession at noon on the 5th. I won't repeat what her response was! Upon the recommendation of several family members and friends, we called the Ottawa County Sheriff's department and requested an escort for our initial arrival to the property. Due to the nature of the seller's texts her realtor told us she actually feared for our safety and no one knew what this person was actually capable of. Yikes!
We met a deputy, along with two state police officers, at a side road and drove to our new house at 12:15 on the 5th-what a sight we must have made! Behind the officers cars was a caravan of people coming to help us move in, along with my father-in-law driving in one of the trailers. I'm sure we made quite the impression on the neighbors! When we arrived we noticed right away that there was still a car in the garage so the officers directed us to stay in the driveway and they approached the house. It was something out of a scene in a movie-the officers had hands on holsters and they went in, in formation. Utterly surreal!
After fifteen minutes of going room to room and then sweeping the property we got the all-clear from the deputy. The seller was not on the premises and most of her belongings had been cleared out, including her dogs. The officers warned us that she had trashed the place and there was a lot of her stuff in the garage (which she had padlocked shut and then took the garage door opener). But, we were given permission to take possession of our new house! After going through that experience Nick and I were a bit shell shocked and we entered the house in a daze. What met us was heart breaking-
-she had dumped cleaning supplies and water on the kitchen floor
-there was smeared dog waste on the wood floors in the living room
-there was (human?) waste smeared on one of the bathrooms' walls
-she broke a lead stained glass window in the front entryway (rock was laying there, and the window was broken from the inside)
-she broke several spindles from the stairway railing leading upstairs
-all the antique brass doorknobs had been removed and taken
-she removed the tin decorative inserts on the living room fireplace
-all the window dressings, blinds and curtains, had been taken
-there were mattresses and debris thrown around the yard and driveway
And we still didn't know the condition of the garage. With heavy hearts we started cleaning up the mess. We were so blessed to have an amazing group of family and friends, including a few people from our church that I didn't even know, show up to help us unload trailers. There's no way we could have moved in without their help!
Per the deputy's instruction we put the sellers remaining belongings outside in front of the garage. I couldn't believe it when I opened the fridge and freezer and saw that they were completely full. The seller obviously had not be planning on moving out anytime soon. After everything was unloaded people started leaving and we were faced with what had happened, and the sick realization that the situation was not over yet.....
