A California couple bought a home over a year ago, but because of a legal loophole the previous owner refuses to leave

By Mary Meisenzahl 

A couple bought a home in Riverside, California, in January 2020, but over a year later they haven’t been able to move in because the seller refuses to leave, Fox 11 LA reported.

Tracie and Myles Albert bought the four-bedroom home in cash for the asking price of $560,000, real estate agent Chris Taylor told Fox 11. After the sale went through, though, the seller refused to turn over the keys or leave the home, the agent said.

 “It’s genuinely unfathomable to me that we live in a state where something like this is even possible. They closed escrow on this home January 31, 2020,” Taylor told the news station. The couple closed on the house weeks before state-mandated lockdowns and other measures — including a moratorium on evictions —  were enacted to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Meantime, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill extending the state’s eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021. The couple and real estate agent say that they’ve tried to get the seller evicted, but authorities say their hands are tied.

Read the rest of the story on Business Insider

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