PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE THIS ONE OUT!!!

General Real Estate Investing
1

hello to all, hope someone can give me some guidance, put a property under contract, paid $5000.00 EMD, sent it to the title company as instructed, this was on 06/02/11, with a closing date of 07/01/11, during this time I was either suppose to close on the deal myself or assign my contract, now mind you, up to this date still have not received the title report, I was told by agent who is not representing me but is the seller of the property that my $5k was not refundable, told him according to the "as is " P& S it does say that if 5 days before closing I still don’t have the title report I could cancel and I did, here were the problems:

  1. have yet to see the title report from the title company,
  2. Title company release my $5k to the broker just cus he called her and told her so, that I should have sent money elsewhere.
  3. agent has emailed me saying I should have asked for the title report not from the escrow company that he had given me the wire instructions to but from another Title company.
  4. agent has my $5k,( he said so in the email yesterday)
  5. still have not received the signed executed addendum
  6. contacted broker, he said my money is non refundable even though I still don’t have any contract, that I actually initialed as a buyer and him as seller and neither the title report.

after calling the title company and asking where is my money,2 hrs later get a call that the broker has agreed to return the funds back to the escrow company, ans according to the contract the funds were to be given to the investment firm, ( it says nonrefundable down payment to …, Inc.) but I was given the escrow and wire instruction and did exactly that, so a friend of mine today told me since I never received the signed executed addendum where I had initialed and the buyer initia :helpled I am not bound to the contract, plus never got a title report so I still went ahead and cancelled, oh the title company told me they have don’t keep funds they release it according to the contract,( before closing date??) any body call and ask for my funds to be released and they just did it, no call to me or any written authorization from me, ok so now why are they holding my funds??? any body knows an attorney that could help me out, I am literally broke, until one deal closes, any suggestions???

thank you so much

2

Hi,

You need a good real estate attorney fast!

This is a mess and without council you are unlikely to unravel it yourself!

           GR
3

If you adhered to the letter of the P&S you signed, including any conditions that may have been applied to your canceling the contract (something like the cancel must be in writing and delivered by certified mail ???) then you are entitled to the return of the money, assuming the P&S also states all monies on deposit are returned to the buyer in the event the contract is canceled. The contract may be worded that the deposit is non-refundable even in the event that the contract is canceled; in that case you may be SOL. Legally, the title company may be liable for releasing the money to the wrong party. The agent and broker may also be liable. I agree with GR’s response to get a lawyer but I also suspect the lawyer fee will eat up most of the $5000. I’d also report/file a complaint regarding both the broker and agent to your state real estate commission.