What can we do about this situation with the people who bought our property?

Call your lawyer this minute. The agreement of sale is binding and says when the buyers will take possession of the house and propery and thus when they are allowed in. You can strip it bare before then if you want.

Did you do the sale with a realtor? Or, an attorney? Usually when a seller stays past closing there is a lease agreement in place where you would be paying the new owner rent. Possibly in Alaska it is done the way you did it, but to me that is highly unusual.

Did you show the new owner the clause where they agreed you could stay? Maybe they don’t realize what they signed. If you had a realtor, do it through the realtor, have them call the new owner.

Can you vacate faster? I would if you can and not deal with trying to insist you can stay. Take photos of the place empty once you do. Time and date them. Even print them, plus keep them electronically.

Their lawyer wrote the papers. They know what is on it.

Dude, I’d be calling the cops. They don’t own the house yet. There are a whole host of laws being broken here.

Didn’t you have a lawyer for the closing? Ask him about when you must vacate. Then and only then are the new owners permitted on the property.

Their lawyers may not have a fucking clue what their clients are doing, which is essentially dismantling your house.

We just had a deed lawyer or something like that.

Your mother must know about her lawyer. I have no idea what “a deed lawyer or something like that” is. Since Alaska is a state, a lawyer is a guy who passed the bar in the state and thus is a lawyer. Has your mother read the contract carefully? There must be a closing date when the house stops being yours and becomes theirs. Then and only then do they own the windows.

You already said it. “This is illegal.” Call the police. Have them arrested. You should have had this done the first time you had evidence that they entered the house. (Don’t you have locks?)

@AshLeigh Did you have a lawyer also?

I would call their lawyer, tell him what is happening and say your next call is to the cops. I can’t believe a lawyer wrote a contract like that. It opens the new owner up to all sorts of problems.

@gailcalled The closing date and the date to vacate, or the date for the new owner to occupy, are not always the same date. However, I agree with your recommendation for them to read over the contract once more carefully.

Also, the laywer that does the closing is not necessarily the lawyer who writes up the sales contract. But, it can be one in the same. We can’t assume though.

@AshLeigh I am assuming you have already finished the financial transaction, that your mom has already gone to closing and received her money from the sale. Is that right?

I’m just wondering where your mom fits in all this. Is she looking for solutions too? I only ask because my mom was the queen of getting evicted. We would end up with all our shit in the back of a truck in a burger king parking lot trying to figure out what to do next.

I’m not in any way saying the situations are similar. But I do wonder what she is doing on her end. You seem pretty young to have read the details of the contract. Have you read it? Are you sure they didn’t take ownership in October?

To be blunt.. If you are sorting this shit out instead of your mom you are probably in the wrong.

I didn’t know that closings can be one month from the time you’re supposed to vacate.

At the closing, copies of legal documents that your mom signed (in other words, one with the date you vacate) should have been given to your mom. She should have them.

I would call your lawyer to clarify. I would not want to challenge the new owners unless you’re positive that you are correct. If you are positive, the lawyer should call their lawyer and tell them, and tell them that the next time they do that, the police would be called.

What would make me nervous about what is happening is that if they want to be nasty about it, your animals can disappear and if they are in the right, you would not have a leg to stand on.

If you are in the process of moving out, you must have somewhere you are staying now. First order of business….get your pets somewhere safe. The other advice above is good. Talk to your lawyer ASAP.

We really can’t help you much without reading the language on the documents. Even then, I don’t think anyone here is an attorney.
Can you either link us to the language that gives you the right to occupy after closing or transcribe it here? We might be able to better help you if we know exactly how it is stated in the contract.
@johnpowell, that totally sucks. You must be a pretty amazing guy because you seem pretty brilliant for someone who had that much trama growing up.

Call the police. Show them the contract.

Yep. I’d be calling the 5–0 pronto!
They sound pretty damn shady.

My mother is a paralegal. She makes stupid choices, and thinks we didn’t need a lawyer in all of this. The only lawyer involved was a guy that wrote up the document, and we split the closing cost. When I asked my mom to call him, she said he was “just a deed lawyer.” I don’t know what that means.

@AshLeigh It almost sounds like your mother is uninterested in resolving the issue. Has she gone back to read the contract to verify that you guys are in the right?

I would think (and I am unsophisticated in this but regardless) no matter what type of attorney he was, the document would have a date that the new owner takes ownership.

That date would be clearly written on the documents.

Your mother’s apathy may hurt you both, and hurt your pets.

If I were you, I would ask to see the documents, either from her or from the “deed lawyer.” That will give you some direction and will help you if you have to call the police.

Any lawyer, no matter how scornful your mom feels about him, has had to pass the Alaska bar in order to practice. That makes him a lawyer and thus, responsible.

Do you have any older relatives or close friends who can read the document and give you some advice?

And why can’t your mom simply change the locks; the new people are breaking and entering, but if the doors are unlocked, it certainly makes it easier for them. Your mom seems to be a willing accomplce in this mess.

I give you permission to call the deed lawyer, 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. He got paid, therefore he has an obligation to you.

I am thinking the deed lawyer is the closing agent. He is transferring the deed.

Sales contracts are not that difficult to read regarding the date of closing and the date to vacate. Ask to look at it yourself, you will be able to understand it. The rest of the contract might be confusing, using legal language you don’t understand, but you don’t need to understand it for what you are concerned about.

If the lawyer wrote it up, he certainly can spend two minutes telling you in laymans terms what was agreed to concerning the dates if you are not sure what the cntract means. Your mom might be right that he can’t do anything to help you enforce the contract, but he certainly can explain the terms of the contract. If the other people are wrong, then he might bother to call them for you and tell them they are not allowed to do what they are doing. I agree with @gailcalled, take the permission she gave you and call yourself.

Change the locks and document everything. Get a lawyer and try to fix this mess before it gets worse.

My mom called them again, and said that if they do anything like this again she will call the police.
Thanks guys.

Quickest and easiest solution, as @DWW25921 said, change the locks immediately. Do it now, even though they have been warned because I would hazard a guess that they will call your bluff on this and show up. Also, set up temporary security cameras to record. If they break the locks, call the cops, show them the camera tapes and FILE CHARGES.

Why change the locks when they’ve taken out the windows…