New Owner Turned Off Electricity

Location: South Carolina

I live with my daughter who sold her house this past Monday. She (we) have until next Monday to be out.

Before making an offer, new owner, looked around the house and yard and couldn’t have missed the tree that fell in the electric line last September during Hurricane Helene. My daughter tried to get the electric company to do something about it last year but I guess they were overwhelmed. They never came around and the electricity has worked fine.

Yesterday morning, as we were packing, the electric company showed up at the door, told us the downed tree was reported by the new owner and was unsafe so they turned off the electricity.

My daughter pretty much spent the day on the phone going back and forth between the new owner and her Realtor.

Everyone agreed new owner should put us in a hotel but he got very argumentative, telling daughter, he’ll pay for a room but he’s not paying for a Hyatt or anything like that! He also told her, if he had to move Monday he would already be all packed up and since we have a place to go, we should just move there.

The pod for all of our things won’t arrive until tomorrow and the place we’re moving to isn’t available until Monday.

So we can only pack in daylight now. Both new owner and realtor were made aware that my daughter doesn’t drive and I have night blindness so this needed to be settled before it got dark.

He sent an electrician over, which made no sense . He couldn’t turn on what the electric company turned off.

I found a good deal for, of all places, the Hyatt ($108 per room per night). They had 2 adjoining rooms, which worked out well for me, daughter, and granddaughter and they were pet friendly so we can bring the dog. As we were driving to the Hyatt, the realtor called to say new owner got us A room 2 towns over. My daughter told her it was dusk and I needed to get off the road and she was done for the day. Also new owner was aware that I live with daughter and we don’t share a bedroom.

We believe, due to his remarks, new owner thought he could force us out 3 days early.

What recourse do we have, if any ? Are we out of luck because we knew the tree came down a year ago?

If he refuses to reimburse us for hotel charges and loss of food in fridge and chest freezer, would small claims court be a good option?