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OP, I hope you enjoy getting sued, because it sounds like unless you give back the $10,000, you'll not only get sued, but you'll make it much harder to sell your house while there's pending litigation. There has been NO ONE so far on this thread that thinks you have a case and would win it.
Go speak to a lawyer, if that's the only thing that will make you feel OK about the situation. But ultimately, you'll end up giving that money back, either by choice or after you're ordered to by a judge. If you don't agree with me, then GO GET A LAWYER and find out what he/she says. You're just spinning circles in this thread.
Under this agreement and based on Paragraph13(b) the buyer cannot terminate the agreement after he accepted the property, PERIOD. And, if he does, consequences should happen. The buyer didn’t revoke the inspection proposal, he signed it and I signed it in the stated period of time under the agreement, PERIOD.
Wrong.
What you are failing to understand, until you signed the addendum, there was no contract in existence.
The contract you keep quoting, was canceled when after the inspection the buyer would not accept the property as which canceled the contract as it stood. At that point the contract you keep quoting for all practical purposes was no longer valid, and is a worthless piece of paper. You had no contract at that point. It was no longer valid, and the buyer would get back the deposit.
The buyer then made a new offer to go ahead and purchase if you agreed to pay for the improvements by a adding a separate addendum to the original contract which would have put the contract back in force including the addendum as part of the contract upon both of you signing the addendum.
The original offer was no longer valid, and would not be an enforceable contract till you signed the addendum. It was only an offer waiting for your acceptance.
Any offer can be withdrawn, up to the point it is signed by the other party (you).
That contract combined with the addendum for the repairs, was a new offer.
The buyer withdrew his offer prior to your signing the addendum, which in effect cancels the offer along with the contract which was now part of a new offer. You keep quoting which was now part of the offer not a stand alone contract, as it had been canceled due to the inspection. By itself it meant nothing, as it had been canceled when the buyer refused to accept the property as is after the inspection.
From that time on, there is no contract. You keep quoting from a contract that no longer exists. It no longer existed, when the buyer did not accept it as is after the inspection of the property.
The buyer has the right to withdraw his offer to buy if you make the improvements, up to the point you sign it.
The buyer withdrew the offer and canceled the purchase a day prior to your signing the contract. When you signed, there was no addendum to the contract for you to sign.
The deposit as your agent told you, now belongs to the buyer.
The buyer will get his deposit back if he has to take it to court, and he can also get a court judgment for you to have to pay his attorney fees, which can be considerable plus your own attorney fees. In fact those combined attorney fees, can add up to more than the deposit.
If anyone is at fault for the sale falling through it is you. You took too long thinking about it, before you signed the new contract which was the combined original contract and the addendum for repairs. Waiting around for you to sign, caused the buyer to think too much and he canceled his offer.
If you sign it before he withdraws the offer, he cannot withdraw and the deposit would be given to you.
MisfitBanana: you are wrong. I have received 5 private messages from members who are agreed with me. Only those members like you have the blindness to not see or read the facts, but I guess this is a common mistake.. Did I say that I am going to keep the deposit? Did I say that I enjoy getting sued? Your comment is out of scope. Please read before making a mess by twisting the case. My point is not that there could be a pending litigation that will make it hard to sell my house or that the buyer has not the right to terminate the agreement, my point is that the buyer is in default under the agreement's terms and he is entitled to lose part or the total security, period.
oldtrader, you are wrong too, and you know why? because you don't understand what happened you cannot talk as if you knew all the details of this case.. Please read the whole thread. There was not such thing as a separated or new offer at all. There was a "Proposal" that the buyer and I both agreed and signed under the original agreement. Read the lines highlighted below or read the whole to understand before making wrong comments.
Part A: The Contingency Period is 10 days from the Execution Date of this Agreement for each Inspection Elected in Paragraph 12(C).
Part B: Except as stated in Paragraph 13(C), if the result of any Inspection elected in Paragraph 12(C) is unsatisfactory to Buyer, Buyer will, within the stated Contingency Period:
1. Accept the Property with the information stated in the Report(s) and agree to the RELEASE in Paragraph 25 of this Agreement, OR
2. Terminate the Agreement by written notice to Seller, with all deposit monies returned to Buyer according to the terms of the Paragraph 23 of this Agreement, OR
3. Present the Report(s) to Seller with a Written Corrective Proposal ("Proposal") listing corrections and/or credits desired by Buyer.
The Proposal may, but is not required to, include name(s) of a property licensed or qualified professional(s) to perform the correction requested in the Proposal, provisions for payment, including retests, and a projected date for completion of the corrections. Buyer agrees that Seller will not held liable for corrections that do not comply with mortgage lender or governmental requirements if performed in a workmanlike manner according to the terms of Buyer's Proposal.
a. No later than 5 days from the end of the Contingency Period(s), Seller will inform Buyer in written that Seller will: (1) Satisfy all the terms of the Buyer's Proposal(s) OR
(2) No Satisfy all the terms of the Buyer's Proposal b. If Seller agrees to satisfy the terms of the Buyer's Proposal, Buyer's Proposal, Buyer accepts the Property and agrees to the RELEASE in Paragraph 25 of this Agreement
Again, why are you arguing with people on an internet forum? You don't need to make a believer out of us. People are giving you non-legal opinions that aren't purported to be fact. Just go see a lawyer, already. Ask your lawyer friend. Please.
Classic thread. Come asking for advice that shouldn't be asked in the first place. Then get mad when some people disagree with you. Only listen to posts that agree with your opinion. Got to love the interwebs.
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