Buyer wants deposit back after he pulled out!

Doozergirl

The buyer probably already has his £1k back because the EA can't legally hold it and will almost certainly lose in court.

I would withold the £1000 and wait to see if they bother taking you to court. If they promised you that the deposit money was yours and that you wouldn't lose it, I see it as their responsibilty. Get the offer of £500 off in writing and withold the full £1000.

Gorgeous_George

I thought that the EA was normally paid by the seller's solicitor on completion.

I suggest taking the £500 and chalking it down to experience. Beware the smiling assassin.

GG

silvercar

Those dodgy buy-your-house-in-24 hour companies give you a check at the initial meeting for a 10% deposit made out to your solicitors. The cheque is genuine, but they know full well that no solicitor will cash it because it would always be returnable.

The same applies here, everything is subject to contract and there is no chance the deposit is not returnable.

silvercar

tomstickland wrote: »

Can someone please clarify, because I can't face reading the first post again.
OP thinks that they are owed £1K from a deposit that a buyer put down, but then the buyer pulled out?

Yes. Buyer 1 puts down a £1k deposit and then can't get a mortgage.

Buyer 2 comes along months later and buys.

Buyer 1 wants deposit back, no written terms for deposit, estate agent offers £500 reduction in fees.

The reason absolutely that buyer 1 is entitled to the deposit back is that you cannot honour the terms of his deposit. You cannot now sell him the property as you have sold it to someone else. (Maybe this why he has delayed his demands until now.)

mystic_trev

Grief I can't even understand why the OP's bothered posting this!

Deposits don't mean anything, they're just a goodwill gesture, and one which I'd NEVER do!

Now - Deposits at Exchange of Contract are somewhat different!!!

tomstickland

silvercar wrote: »

Yes. Buyer 1 puts down a £1k deposit and then can't get a mortgage.

Buyer 2 comes along months later and buys.

Buyer 1 wants deposit back, no written terms for deposit, estate agent offers £500 reduction in fees.

The reason absolutely that buyer 1 is entitled to the deposit back is that you cannot honour the terms of his deposit. You cannot now sell him the property as you have sold it to someone else. (Maybe this why he has delayed his demands until now.)

OK, that's what I thought, but wasn't sure.
In my opinion the OP should not expect any of this deposit. The house was sold to buyer no2, fees were paid for this.

chickmug

Like someone else has said why did the OP bother posting especially as he is the only one NOT coming back to offer more clarification.

Richard Webster summed matters up well and from my point, as an EA, I NEVER try and take deposits and think the last time we did was possibly 15 + years ago. When the seller asks us to take a deposit I always say, to the seller, would they also pay a deposit so if either party pulls out the other party keeps the deposit money. 100% of the time the sellers then sees it is as the two -way deal which it is. Trust on both sides. Hopefully!!!!!!

chickmug

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I thought that the EA was normally paid by the seller's solicitor on completion.

Yes but before the solicitor pays he must get authorisation from the seller to make that payment.

chickmug

fimonkey wrote: »

I paid a holding deposit of £1K for a flat I wanted to buy back in early 2007, that needed some work doing to it, and where other buyers were interested. I put the money up front to prove I was serious about buying it and wouldn't offer lower price at the last minute, and the intention was that if I pulled out (bar serious defects in survey) then I would loose the money.

Luckily for me, my solicitor cleverly worded the letter regarding the deposit and both parties agreed it would be held by my solicitors. In the end the vendor became quite unreasonable and I pulled out... AND I got my 1K back because my solicitor had the foresight to cover every eventuality in his letter.

In hindsight, I would never pay a holding deposit, and especially not in this climate!

As an EA I fully agree no deposits under any circumstances. What your solicitor did for you may be more difficult for them now as their rules, re deposits, tightened up last year.

lonestar1

Lets see the buyer paid a deposit but nothing was signed in relation to the deposit.
In Court if the buyer can prove they paid teh deposit to EA they will get it back end of story.
You have nothing in writing between yourself and the EA relating to the deposit so I would say any gesture by EA I would seize with both hands