Dear Honorable Mayor Wolosin, Esteemed Council Members and Staff Members who will confer on this property,
I need your help. I grew up in Menlo Park and have lived here for 36 years. It has always been my dream to own a home in Menlo Park and to be a teacher. These dreams are incompatible, except through the Below Market Rate purchase program. I have been on the BMR purchase list for over 12 years and it is finally my turn to purchase a home. I have a signed purchase agreement, loan approval, I’m ready to open escrow and close the transaction. I am ready to purchase 975 Florence Ln, Unit 8.
At every step of the process since April 30th, I filled out the paperwork, asked my questions and submitted documents as quickly as I possibly could. Both the owner and I signed the purchase agreement. Then I got tricked because the owner changed the terms by adding an addendum to increase the deposit and shorten escrow by 12 days with a drop-dead clause. My lender told me she could not be reasonably certain we could meet the shortened deadline. Since HouseKeys was gone and the new BMR administrator did not take over, I asked the city’s housing manager and lawyer if I was required to sign the addendum or if the purchase agreement would be valid without it. They did not tell me. Now the owner wants to terminate negotiations.
When I realized that the owner requested to terminate negotiations on the day the purchase agreement’s timeline said I should send in my proof of loan application and funds to close, it occurred to me that maybe he terminated because I didn’t send those documents by the date he expected them. I was waiting for answers from the city about the addendum! I didn’t know that the signed purchase agreement’s timeline could be in effect while I waited. If I had thought I could open escrow under the terms of the purchase agreement, I would have! But I didn’t know so I asked the city’s housing manager and lawyer and they didn’t tell me. Now the owner wants to cancel the contract.
I have since been advised that the owner cannot change the terms of the purchase agreement by an addendum without my consent. The purchase agreement that we both signed is valid. I sent in my proof of funds and proof of loan application as soon as I realized I needed to and asked to open escrow. Remember, I’m doing this without guidance. I have substantially fulfilled my obligations under the purchase agreement.
I’m afraid that this was a big misunderstanding and I hope we can straighten it out and get back on track with the purchase. I need your help! I am a kindergarten teacher who has never purchased a home. I was not supported by a below market rate administrator who knows how the process works and could answer my questions.
If you cannot help me purchase this property directly from the owner, I urge the city to be ready to purchase it from him BEFORE the 60-day deadline and please sell it to me. I’m at the top of the application list and I want this home! My experience shows that he will not grant any more extensions.
On top of taking advantage of me and my inexperience, I’m afraid that the owner is trying to take advantage of the city. After benefiting from construction allowances because he included a BMR unit, the owner’s lawyer said the owner “will instead rely upon his rights under the BMR Agreement and Ordinance to take title free from BMR restrictions if the City fails to exercise its right to buy the unit before the deadline provided in Section 8.1.16 of the BMR Agreement.” The owner wants to get out of his BMR obligation and sell the unit on the open market for much more.
Menlo Park needs every below market rate unit it can get. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to purchase this one! Please help me be able to purchase this home so I can permanently live in the hometown that I love and continue my life’s work of teaching children.
Sincerely,
Kristen Leep
