Expert: Dick Dennis - 7/5/2006

Question
How long should it take for a broker to return a good faith deposit after agreement of sale has been cancelled.

A little backgroung. I found a home, got the inspection and inspection revealed there were numerous problems with the home. I resubmitted my offer with the stipulation that EVERYTHING on the list was repaired. My realtor come back to me a few days later saying that the sellers agreed to fix everything except the roof and the chimney. I did not agree to those terms and wanted to cancel the agreement. He said that the sellers had 15 days to reply back with a response. On the 15th day I called my realtor and did not hear back from him at all. He called me the next morning saying that they got back to him at 11pm the following night and the sellers were going to take out a loan to get everything repaired. I said ok. A few hours later he called me and said that the sellers wanted to know if they could have another day because their loan was not actually finalized yet. I said no and that i would like to cancel the agreement. I wanted to cancel the agreement when I did not hear back on the 15th day. He said ok. Of course he calls me about 3hrs after I told him to cancel the agreement and says that the sellers are going to get everything taken care of and I said I still want to cancel the agreement.  He told me that it may take a few days for me to get my deposit back because the sellers maybe bitter. Which leads me to my question of how long does it take to return a good faith deposit that is made out to the realty company. My realtor and the sellers realtor work for the same company so I dont think it should take that long. I do not trust the realtor or anything that he says.  It has been almost a week and I have not one word back from my "realtor". What can I do in order to get my money back?

Answer
The seller must sign a release of that deposit, Shalae. If he does not sign it and have the money sent back to you within 30 days after you have formally sent a request for refund to the Realtor's office and the seller at their addresses via certified mail, then you take the whole bunch to small claims court if the deposit is less than $5,000 ($7,500 in some states).

I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis              dixiedee13@aol.com