Buyer wants deposit returned ---

[papillon]

What is the name of your state? Missouri

Hope someone can help. I posted a vehicle online and had quite a few responses. The one person I would let buy the vehicle sent me $500 via Paypal, he asked if I would hold the vehicle until he was able to pick it up two weeks later. He stated he would fly into my city on a specific date. He did not show up, nor did he call or email. I contacted him by email the next day and received a response from him telling me he would send another $500 to show he was serious and that he would let me know when he would be in town. Well, he never sent the additional funds. I got a call from him on a Thursday letting me know his flight would be in on a specific date (which was a week later).

I picked him up from the airport and brought him to the vehicle. We took it for a test drive and he loved the car (who wouldn't?). We got back to the garage and he began to look around the vehicle. That is when he nitpicked the vehicle. He asked why I didn't tell him that there was 1 door ding on the passenger side, I reminded him that there was 1 door ding on the drivers side and 2 on the passenger side. He looked again and counted the two dings. He hemmed and hawed about the mileage and thought it was not actual and that I had turned it back. I told him to look at the receipts again to show where every oil change and repair was documented. Mileage and records are impecccable and accurate.

OK, I was getting PO'd. (better than POn). He kept on with how disappointed he was and that I should have described the vehicle better. There are 9 pictures of the vehicle on-line. There were 16 additional pictures I sent him. There was the 1 1/2 hour phone conversation.

I finally told him to get in the car I was driving him back to the airport. If he did not want to buy the car then off we go. So I dropped him off and left him in a cloud of rubber burn.

I just received an email from him stating he wants his $500 deposit returned to him. Do I have to give it back? The money is still sitting in Paypal waiting for an opinion. Thanx - sorry for being long winded about this. But I don't know how else to put it in perspective for the reader.

 

[djohnson]

Was this on ebay? I am not an attorney but maybe by bumping one will jump in with a legal opinion. My opinion is that it may work like earnest money and that would mean he forfeited it. As long as the car was not misrepresented I don't think he wold have any recourse. Hopefully an attorney will give you a better legal answer. Ofcourse he can sue for anything but it doesn't mean he would win.

 

[J10]

I don't have a legal education, but I do have a lot of experience with deposits. Unless you stated that the deposit was non-refundable, yes you must return it. That is assuming that you only put the vehicle up "For Sale" and not on an auction. From your wording I am assuming that this is what you did. However, if you did auction off the vehicle, then he is legally obligated to buy it.

Of course, one of the legal eagles may disagree with me, and if so I would listen to them.

 

[djohnson]

Another thing to think about to was you said he sent you the money to hold the car. What does that imply? Had he already obligated himself to buy it? or was he wanting to look at? By the difference in non legal opinions I think those and if it was auctioned, like on ebay, is going to be some determining factors. Please let us know those answers and we will try to help you more.

 

[papillon]

car was listed on Autotrader for sale...

Hi, thanx for your input! The vehicle was offered for sale on Autotrader. The ex-buyer and I discussed the car at length on the phone and after he told me he would send a deposit to hold the car, I informed him the deposit was non-refundable. He laughed and I told him that I was serious. He said ok and the next day sent the deposit.

I feel I performed in this transaction quite well. I described the vehicle in detail. Took pictures of the vehicle for photo verification, waited the time frame he gave to pick up the vehicle, then went above and beyond by waiting an additional period of time. I could have sold the vehicle during this waiting period but held off. I should have just sold it and returned his deposit. But then he would have possibly sued me for selling the vehicle....

 

[J10]

I am not sure about Missouri, but most states have a verbal agreement law stating that a verbal agreement is binding and as valid as a written agreement when the amount is $500 or less. Since you informed him that the deposit was non-refundable and he agreed, that constitutes a verbal agreement. Hence (if Missouri honors verbal agreements), you do not need to refund the money. However, he can sue you for the $500, and it would be your word against his that you had a verbal agreement. If I were you I would keep any physical records that you might have pertaining to the entire episode. Also write a journal of events, with specific dates (and times if possible) stating every single thing that occured between the time you listed the car for sale and the time he called requesting the return of his deposit. Do not speak with him over the phone anymore, but only through the mail (certified mail, return receipt requested), and document every time you communicate with him or he with you. Trust me, you will need this if he ever takes you to court.