Posted by Sherman in Idaho [24.32.202.166] on Wednesday, May 08, 2013 at 04:35:15 :
In Reply to: 'Deposit' vs "payment".... posted by Chris Case [75.36.33.240] on Wednesday, May 08, 2013 at 01:15:28 :
In the absence of a written purchase and sale agreement, I think it would be tough to enforce a casual deposit either way, but if a deposit can be refunded just because the buyer changed his mind, it's really no deposit at all and doesn't mean anything. If you had a proper legal agreement, like they do with real estate, you really wouldn't owe him any of the deposit back, but realistically, I don't see how he can really complain if you refund the deposit less the costs of re-listing it and every other expense you can think of, and wait until it sells to do so. If you get into legalities, he can claim it was misrepresented, and of course as soon as you have to hire a lawyer you've lost more than if you just gave him his money back.
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