MOORESTOWN – When a judge ruled for Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and his wife in a real estate dispute, the couple’s opponent threw a challenge flag.
But upon further review, an appellate panel has declared: The ruling on the field – er, in the lower court – stands.
A three-judge panel said the Siriannis could walk away from a $2.3 million purchase agreement for a luxury home in Moorestown.
“You have the head coach of an NFL football team setting new law in an area that really matters,” said Lance Rogers, the couple’s attorney, said of the May 17 decision.
The Siriannis refused to buy a home at 771 Allison Court after learning the property’s deed provided a right of first refusal, (ROFR) to an earlier owner’s children and a family trust.
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That provision, which was not disclosed to the Siriannis before they signed their contract, would allow the children to match any offer by the coach and his wife, Brett.
The ROFR is to continue throughout the children’s lives, raising the possibility of complications were the Siriannis to try to sell the house later.
The would-be seller, 771 Allison Court LLC, sued the Siriannis for breach of contract in April 2021.
But a judge in Mount Holly granted summary judgment to the couple, essentially finding the LLC had no case.
Superior Court Judge Erik Fikry in March 2023 also ordered the return of the Siriannis’ $100,000 deposit and other costs from the planned purchase.
Those payments have been on hold during the LLC’s appeal.
The Siriannis will not recover legal expenses from the protracted dispute.
“But this was not about the money for them,” said Lance Rogers, the couple’s attorney. “It was about the principle.”
“They felt so victimized by this egregious circumstance that they needed to stand up and do what was right,” he said.
The fight focused on a deed for a 7,800-square-foot home on about 1½ acres. The two-story house includes six bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths, and a pool with a hot tub, according to an online listing.
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In ruling for the Siriannis, the appeals court said the LLC could not deliver a “good, marketable and insurable title to the property.”
And that “relieved (the Siriannis) of the obligation to close on the property,” it said.
An earlier owner, Harvey Berk, put the provision in the deed in 2010 on behalf of his two children and a family trust.
Berk sold the house in 2019 for $760,000 to Jeff Schneider, a home builder who spent $1 million on upgrades, the appellate ruling says.
The ROFR was disclosed to Schneider before that transaction, the ruling says.
Deed threw curve ball to football coach
Schneider put the home on the market through the LLC in 2021, and the Siriannis — newly arrived in South Jersey after the coach left the Indianapolis Colts — signed a contract to pay the asking price.
The couple then learned of the ROFR more than a month later, when a title company said it could not provide title insurance due to the deed’s provision.
The title firm also described the ROFR as an “impediment” to the property’s sale, the ruling says.
“I felt bad for the Siriannis coming to this area and having this experience right out of the box,” said Rogers.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find two individuals who are more down to earth,” he added.
The Siriannis refused to close on the property when the ROFR could not be removed or eliminated.
They bought a home elsewhere, while another buyer — who was made aware of the ROFR —paid $1.95 million for the Moorestown house, the decision notes.
The LLC sued the Siriannis shortly after the planned closing date.
The couple responded with their own breach-of-contract claim, saying the LLC’s “inability to permanently extinguish the ROFR entitled them to void the contract.”
In ruling for the couple, the appellate court described the lower court ruling as “well-reasoned” and said Fikry had “correctly considered and analyzed the contract.”
Rogers, an Ardmore, Pa., attorney, said the decision “underscores a seemingly common sense principle that the seller (of a property) has a duty to disclose a right of first refusal and certainly to resolve it prior to sale.”
More importantly, he said, the case allows prospective buyers, when learning of a previously undisclosed ROFR, “to terminate the sale and walk away.”
An attorney for the LLC could not be reached for immediate comment.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
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