What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ
I had put a boat up for sale on CL for which I had a lot of interest, and someone came to see it the following day. He looked it over, offered me a 4% cash deposit, and told me it was sold, he'd be back to pick it up with the balance in cash.
When he came back to pick it up, he brought someone with him to inspect the boat - I had no problem with that at all. They looked it over, and it wouldn't start. We lowered the price significantly based on that, and offered to complete the deal.
He refused, but said 'if you get it running, I'll take it at your original asking price. Keep the deposit while we work this out'.
Over the next 3 weeks, we went back and forth trying to find someone to get it running. I found a mechanic and advised the buyer, he said 'great, just let me know we're moving forward, I want to make this happen' (I have his wish to complete the transaction in email form as well). The mechanic came out and looked at it, told me what it needed, and agreed to do the work within a week.
I contacted the buyer and left him a message, told him the mechanic was picking it up in 2 days to complete the repairs.
AFTER the mechanic had picked up the boat and started the repairs, the buyer gets back to me and says 'yeah, I'm going to pass on this'.
I'm in a state of shock. I had a lot of interest in it, and likely could have sold it as-is with no problem. There's nothing seriously wrong with the boat, but it had been sitting for a bit and needed to be lubricated and it needed a new solonoid. It runs just fine now.
I told the buyer I was keeping his deposit. Now, I hadn't asked for a deposit, and no agreement was made as to whether or not it was refundable, but in my mind, I have a valid contract for this sale, which he backed out of. The deposit amount is nominal, but for me, it's a principle thing. I spent 5X the amount of the deposit on repairs, taking him at his word that our contract was going to be completed.
He did say he'd discussed it with his attorney and they felt I was being unreasonable, I asked him to have his attorney contact me.
Do I have a leg to stand on? In my mind, I could take him to court and force him to perform on the contract, since I upheld my end of it but he chose to break it and walk away.
I had put a boat up for sale on CL for which I had a lot of interest, and someone came to see it the following day. He looked it over, offered me a 4% cash deposit, and told me it was sold, he'd be back to pick it up with the balance in cash.
When he came back to pick it up, he brought someone with him to inspect the boat - I had no problem with that at all. They looked it over, and it wouldn't start. We lowered the price significantly based on that, and offered to complete the deal.
He refused, but said 'if you get it running, I'll take it at your original asking price. Keep the deposit while we work this out'.
Over the next 3 weeks, we went back and forth trying to find someone to get it running. I found a mechanic and advised the buyer, he said 'great, just let me know we're moving forward, I want to make this happen' (I have his wish to complete the transaction in email form as well). The mechanic came out and looked at it, told me what it needed, and agreed to do the work within a week.
I contacted the buyer and left him a message, told him the mechanic was picking it up in 2 days to complete the repairs.
AFTER the mechanic had picked up the boat and started the repairs, the buyer gets back to me and says 'yeah, I'm going to pass on this'.
I'm in a state of shock. I had a lot of interest in it, and likely could have sold it as-is with no problem. There's nothing seriously wrong with the boat, but it had been sitting for a bit and needed to be lubricated and it needed a new solonoid. It runs just fine now.
I told the buyer I was keeping his deposit. Now, I hadn't asked for a deposit, and no agreement was made as to whether or not it was refundable, but in my mind, I have a valid contract for this sale, which he backed out of. The deposit amount is nominal, but for me, it's a principle thing. I spent 5X the amount of the deposit on repairs, taking him at his word that our contract was going to be completed.
He did say he'd discussed it with his attorney and they felt I was being unreasonable, I asked him to have his attorney contact me.
Do I have a leg to stand on? In my mind, I could take him to court and force him to perform on the contract, since I upheld my end of it but he chose to break it and walk away.
