Buying or Selling a Home/earnest money

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Expert: John Hendricks - 11/13/2008


Question
i was going to buy a house in Chicago land area in 2007. the purchase price was 200,000. we gave the owners attorney 2,000 earnest money check. after we went over the finances i was unable to come up with the down payment money needed to have an affordable mortgage. i told my mortgage broker that i cannot afford a payment that high, and he was able to deny my mortgage application. he sent the letter to my lawyers office. the lawyer of the sellers said that he needed to get permission from the people selling the house to release my earnest funds. after waiting for a reply for awhile i seen the house re listed, as a foreclosure. the owners of the house had stopped paying the mortgage and left the country. now the sellers attorney says he still needs permission from the old owners to release the funds. even though he has admitted he cant get ahold of them. my lawyer seems to have given up on my money, but i haven't. any advise on how i can go about getting my money back?

Answer
Dear John;

Thank you for your question. Being a Realtor in California, I am familiar with the methods of releasing funds when an escrow is cancelled. It is true that both parties need to sign instructions to release the funds being held as a deposit to the proper party, but if one party (the Seller) in your situation has abandoned the escrow and deposit, the selected title company (in California) would have to make every effort to contact the Seller. As a result, if the seller cannot be reached by the title company, Realtors and the buyer, an affidavit would have to be signed by the buyers and both Realtors stating that the sellers vacated the property and to the best of all parties’ knowledge that the sellers elected to face foreclosure. Once the document is presented to the title company, based on that information release the deposit to the Buyer. Not all title companies have the same policy in California, but this gives you an idea of how the procedure of regaining your deposit is done.

That being said, in Illinois, the laws may address this situation differently, especially since an attorney is being used as the intermediary for the transaction. I have attached a file that you open and print for easy reference. Each state has its own Department of Real Estate. In Illinois it is the Bureau of Real Estate Professions I believe. They do have a website with a complete directory of departments, one of which would be a good start for further information.  The “Customer Service Division” toll free hotline is (877) 793-3470 and you would want to explain your situation in detail. At that time you will be directed to the department that will be able to answer your question completely. If you would like a list of all the departments, email me and I will return the PDF file for you to open and print for your records. It will have all the department names and phone numbers.

I would imagine there is a procedure for this type of situation and it could be easily addressed. Getting the information directly from the Bureau of Real Estate Professions would greatly enhance your knowledge for future conversations with the attorney. I hope this helped you… Good luck in getting your deposit returned within a short period of time.

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks

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John Hendricks

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As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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