A disturbing story in the real estate sector: wrong escalation on the South Beach

The real estate overheating associated with the pandemic and the phenomenon of leverage has caused legal problems for the couple and brokers.

A home for sale on the South Shore, the subject of two offers to buy, which were accepted within two days, found himself at the center of a legal dispute.

In his lawsuit, one of the buyers alleged that the brokers did their job poorly.

Eric Bertrand sued the sellers, Benoit Morneau and Daniel Cayle, and brokers, including Vincent Chabot, Melanie Lavoie, and a company associated with Sotheby’s in Quebec, to force them to accept his offer to buy in place of someone else’s, according to a lawsuit filed in Longueuil Court in year 2020.

This complicated situation stems from the fact that sellers accepted his offer to buy, which was made first, at 9:04 pm on Friday night, when it was indicated that they had until 9 pm.

Too late

The next day, the brokers announced that the offer was therefore invalid and wanted to start the bidding process again. But the first buyer refused to play the game.

Another buyer, whose offer had been ignored the day before by the sellers, made a new offer on the house, and this time it was accepted.

In his appeal, Eric Bertrand claimed that although his offer was accepted four minutes late, it was in fact accepted before 9 p.m.

“It is clear that the sellers’ intention, at the time of signing the documents, was to fulfill the promise of purchase and agree to sell,” he claimed.

win case

“The position of sellers and intermediaries […] Unreasonable, offensive, and in bad faith.”

In March 2021, the first buyer withdrew its lawsuit against the brokers.

Then in July 2021, he won his case against sellers who had to give him their home and pay $20,000, plus interest.