Chicago Couple Angry at Being Denied Dream Home
Aug. 12, 2010— -- George and Peytyn Willborn are understandly angry that the dream house they planned to buy was suddenly pulled off the market.
"It's unacceptable," businesswoman Peytyn Willborn told ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago.
"Am I angry -- absolutely," said George Willborn, a well-known local comedian and radio personality.
For the Willborns, it was a dream not deferred but denied. The 8,000-square-foot property in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood had all met their criteria: big closets, basketball court, five bedrooms and a home theater.
"We met all the requirements that anybody needs to make to purchase the home," Willborn said. "Should there be compensation? Absolutrely there should. Is that our motivation? Hell no, it's not. Its something that's bigger and we have to be bigger than dollars and cents."
The Sabbias and their attorney did not returns calls seeking comment. Prudential Rubicoff Properties' Dennis Dooley said it was "inappropriate" to comment on the pending case.
The complaint alleged that the Sabbias and Prudential real estate agent Jeffrey Lowe stalled negotiations and took the property off the market in January after receiving a $1.7 million offer from radio personality and comedian George Willborn and his wife, businesswoman Peytyn Willborn.
According to published reports, the house was back on the market by March and listed again for an asking price of $1.799 million.
According to the complaint, the Willborns' offer was the highest the sellers had received in the two years the property had been on the market. However, when faced with signing the sales contract, the Sabbias refused.
Dylcia Cornelious, the Willborns' agent, said while the Willborns have found another home and the closing is pending, the pain remains.
"They are absolutely still reeling from this," she said. "It's hurtful, unacceptable in this day and age. You can't choose who you can sell your home to."
Cornelious said the Willborns loved the house. "It was perfect. The children had picked out their rooms."
The complaint stated that real estate agent Lowe told Cornelious Jan. 11 that the Sabbias had changed their minds and were taking the home off the market, despite it having been listed for sale for almost two years.
Lowe gave various reasons as to why he said the Sabbias had decided not to sell, which included Adrienne Sabbia having changed her mind when the couple couldn't find a suitable new home to move to, and wanting to keep the children in their current schools.
