BUYER NOT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF DEPOSIT, BUYER DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE MORTGAGE CONTINGENCY PROVISIONS OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND DID NOT ACT IN GOOD FAITH, APPELLATE COURT SEARCHED THE RECORD AND AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO SELLERS.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, searched the record and awarded summary judgment to the defendants-sellers in this action to recover the deposit for a home purchase. The court found the buyer did not comply with the mortgage contingency provisions of the purchase agreement and misled the sellers, not informing them of the rejection of his mortgage applications:

… [T]he Supreme Court erred in determining that the buyer had made a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. The correspondence submitted by the buyer on renewal demonstrated, among other things, that the seller agreed to the buyer’s initial request to extend the commitment date but refused to consider his request for a second extension of the commitment date until the buyer provided copies of his loan applications and declinations. Additionally, this new evidence demonstrated that when the buyer sought an extension of the commitment date, he did not advise the seller of the fact that he had already been rejected by more than one lender. Contrary to the buyer’s contention, the evidence demonstrated that the buyer failed to comply with several provisions of the mortgage contingency clause in the contract … , and acted in bad faith in obtaining an extension of the commitment date by misleading the seller about the fact that multiple lenders rejected his mortgage loan applications based on his “delinquent credit obligations” and the lenders’ inability to verify his income. * * *

This Court has the authority to search the record and award summary judgment to a nonmoving party with respect to issues that were the subject of the motion before the Supreme Court … . Under the unique and compelling circumstances of this case, and given the wealth of evidence which supports judgment in favor of the defendants, we search the record and award summary judgment to the defendants dismissing the complaint … . Kweku v Thomas, 2016 NY Slip Op 08051, 2nd Dept 11-30-16

 

REAL ESTATE (BUYER NOT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF DEPOSIT, BUYER DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE MORTGAGE CONTINGENCY PROVISIONS OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND DID NOT ACT IN GOOD FAITH, APPELLATE COURT SEARCHED THE RECORD AND AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO SELLERS)/CONTRACT LAW (REAL ESTATE PURCHASE CONTRACT, BUYER NOT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF DEPOSIT, BUYER DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE MORTGAGE CONTINGENCY PROVISIONS OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND DID NOT ACT IN GOOD FAITH, APPELLATE COURT SEARCHED THE RECORD AND AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO SELLERS)/APPEALS (SUMMARY JUDGMENT, BUYER NOT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF DEPOSIT, BUYER DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE MORTGAGE CONTINGENCY PROVISIONS OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND DID NOT ACT IN GOOD FAITH, APPELLATE COURT SEARCHED THE RECORD AND AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO SELLERS)