Richard Hill and Raymond Annis were ready to move on to the next phase of their lives. They sold their in Palm Springs home of 20 years to downsize.

“We found a condo that we liked on leased land made our offer and everything was going beautifully and on time until the government shutdown,” says Hill.

Their realtor Guy Prehn, with Bennion Deville Homes, called to tell them the bad news.

“It was a difficult phone call to make,” said Prehn.

The condo they’re buying is one many parcels that sits on tribal land in the Coachella Valley and the only agency that can approve the sale is the Bureau of Indian Affairs of BIA.

The governmental agency is closed because of the government shutdown.

“And so as a result of it they cannot move into their new home, they cannot take possession, and they were left with an option of being homeless literally unless a solution could be found,” says Prehn.

“Panic as we said where are we going to go?” says Hill.

Fortunately for Hill and Annis and their little dog Randy, their agent went the extra mile to come to an agreement with the sellers to rent until the government shutdown is over.

But even then Prehn says he has a feeling it’s going to take time before the sale is final, “They will have a backlog of files that who knows how long it will take them to process those files,” adding there are dozens of similar stories in the valley, “the escrow companies are in a holding pattern, the buyers, the sellers, the other realtors in the transaction, everybody is in a holding pattern.”

For now this family caught up in the shut down is going to try to move on.

“We just have to be patient and wait and try to be positive, it’s hard to do,” says Hill.

Government Shutdown Halts Local Home Sale