WhenInRome
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida, Santa Rosa county.
7 days ago, I received $200 to hold my vehicle for a man that agreed to purchase it within 8 days, tomorrow. I gave him a written contract saying:
"
I, "my name" recieved $200 toward the full payment of $500 for my Ford Escort. "Buyer's name" agrees to pay remaining amount within 8 days.
"
He called today, and asked for the money back to buy another car. Now I have held my car at a price lower than advertised, for a week, and am moving across the country 2 weeks from today, so I am running short on time to sell it.
I found this information on a legal help website:
E. Options. An option is an offer which contains a promise by the offeror that it will be held open for a stated period of time and will be irrevocable for that time if supported by consideration. For example, if someone wanted to buy Tom’s car but needed a little more time to come up with the full amount of money, she could pay Tom, perhaps, $500, to keep the offer open for a month. At any time during that month, the buyer can purchase the car for the full amount. If the buyer fails to purchase the car after a month, then the seller can withdraw the offer and keep the $500 because the money is compensation (or consideration) for keeping the offer open for a month, when the seller could have found someone else to buy the car.
If he doesn't pay within 8 days, do I have to give him the deposit back?
Was the $200 deposit non-refundable because it was payment for keeping the offer open for a week, as compensation?
Would it even be worth his trouble if he decided to file a civil suit over $200, or are court costs too high to try something like that?
Thank you so much for all of your help!
Kenneth
7 days ago, I received $200 to hold my vehicle for a man that agreed to purchase it within 8 days, tomorrow. I gave him a written contract saying:
"
I, "my name" recieved $200 toward the full payment of $500 for my Ford Escort. "Buyer's name" agrees to pay remaining amount within 8 days.
"
He called today, and asked for the money back to buy another car. Now I have held my car at a price lower than advertised, for a week, and am moving across the country 2 weeks from today, so I am running short on time to sell it.
I found this information on a legal help website:
E. Options. An option is an offer which contains a promise by the offeror that it will be held open for a stated period of time and will be irrevocable for that time if supported by consideration. For example, if someone wanted to buy Tom’s car but needed a little more time to come up with the full amount of money, she could pay Tom, perhaps, $500, to keep the offer open for a month. At any time during that month, the buyer can purchase the car for the full amount. If the buyer fails to purchase the car after a month, then the seller can withdraw the offer and keep the $500 because the money is compensation (or consideration) for keeping the offer open for a month, when the seller could have found someone else to buy the car.
If he doesn't pay within 8 days, do I have to give him the deposit back?
Was the $200 deposit non-refundable because it was payment for keeping the offer open for a week, as compensation?
Would it even be worth his trouble if he decided to file a civil suit over $200, or are court costs too high to try something like that?
Thank you so much for all of your help!
Kenneth