Question:
I am the Listing agent and I sold a listing outside of my regular area. Buyer Agent is asking for an additional final 15 minute walkthrough before closing, despite having already used both their contractual pre-closing visits. Agent says it is “typical” to allow for this visit above and beyond what is in the contract. In 15 years, I’ve never heard of such a thing. I will still try to accommodate them if possible, but is this really an implied assumption in some markets?
Answer:
This final walkthrough has been around for decades. It was litigated a few times and decided in Harkness v. Cooney in 1979. By the 1980’s, the Law Society added it to the real estate course for Bar Admission candidates. So, for the last 45 years, every new lawyer knew about it. But, there will still some who were unaware. On occasion, there would be a refusal. Our law firm ran into that on a few occasions. The result is we made an immediate application to Court for access. In every case, the other side immediately backed down because:
1) they were going to lose, and
2) they would be out of pocket thousands of dollars.
The standard in the industry was to “permit access”. Because the problem has largely been solved, that’s likely the reason why you have not encountered this in 15 years.
Let them in, what are you hiding? That’s always the question.
If the Seller has a closing on a purchase as well, they will never refuse. So, find that out ahead of time and negotiations over that final walkthrough will be much simpler.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker