Expert: Sue Bernstein - 11/8/2006

Question
Hi, A buyer put a deposit of $2000 down when making an offer on our home. He had until November 8th to back out after we accepted his offer.  Once all of the inspections were done he backed out.  All inspections passed and there are no problems with his getting a loan. He wants his deposit back as it is before the 11/8 deadline.  Any chances we can keep any of it to reimburse us for the inspections we got.  He had no good reason for backing out.

Answer
Dear Jill,

It really depends on what the contract reads.  In California buyers can pretty much back out for any reason as long as they do it before they remove their contingencies. If the money has been sitting in escrow they can't release it until both sides sign off on the cancellation and release of deposit.  Usually, the deposit will be returned to the buyer in its entirety unless your contract says otherwise.  If you had to do any inspections for the sale of your house you can still apply those to the next buyer.  My suggestion, is you get your house back on the market asap and move on.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Sue Bernstein