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Refusal to reimburse earnest money

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aerialx3

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? MS
I am selling my house and there someone put a contract on it the 1st week in July with closing date set as 8/5/2005. The buyers had a home inspection done which stated several repairs needed which they circled the repairs they wanted done. The inspection stated "suspicion of foundation problems, seek advice of licensed engineer" which was done and there were no foundation problems. The buyers then came back and said they wanted all of the repairs on the list done, which I as the seller said I would do because they were all minor repairs. The morning of the scheduled closing the buyers backed out of the contract. Now, they are not wanting to give me, the seller, the earnest money. I also paid for the appraisal upfront and paid for all the repairs. Am I entitled to the earnest money and any additional out of pocket expenses incurred since this also took the house off the market for 3 weeks?
 
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seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: Am I entitled to the earnest money and any additional out of pocket expenses incurred since this also took the house off the market for 3 weeks?

A: You are if that is what your written contract signed by both parties says. But I am curious as to what you call "earnest money": if you did not have the dough, it is not "earnest money" it is an illusory promise. You should've gotten the deposit up front.

Didn't your lawyer or real estate agent insist on that?

You may be able to get some kind of damages for keeping the land off the market and for the broken contract; I doubt though that any jury is going to give you money for repairing your own house.
 

aerialx3

Junior Member
There was a written contract signed by both parties. It stated in the contract that the buyer was putting down $500 earnest money on the home. My agent explained to me that the earnest money was put in a separate fund (escrow I assume) until the point of closing. So who is responsibile for "holding" the money and who should release the money to me since the buyer was the one who backed out of the contract at the last minute?
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
So who is responsibile for "holding" the money and who should release the money to me since the buyer was the one who backed out of the contract at the last minute?


This info should be in the written contract y'all signed.
 

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