In our real estate contracts there is a paragraph that states “If the house catches on fire before title transfer, the buyer does not have to buy it.” I always thought that was a silly statement until one Saturday night when my phone rang at home. On the other end was a frantic woman saying, “Gloria my house is on fire, my house is on fire.”
I thought it was a joke so I asked, “Who is this?!”It actually was a person who had just purchased a house, and they drove by it to show it to their friends. As they approached, they saw fire trucks and firemen at their new house. One fireman was on the roof with a hose pouring water into the second floor.
The poor people were in shock! As it turned out, the owner had been smoking in bed and caused the fire. She was OK.
Now I understand the reason for the clause in the contract.
The buyers went ahead with the purchase because the woman had replacement insurance so the new buyers were able to get everything replaced and updated as they liked. It was a happy ending to a traumatic experience!