Can a seller say no after taking a deposit?

jimmy1973_2

i recently put a offer in for a home that was going to auction, the offer was accepted and i was told that if i put a deposit down that the property would be taking of the market. I put a deposit down and 30 minutes later i got a phone call of the estate agents saying that they needed to give me the money back as the seller had a change of mind and wanted it to go to auction. I asked why and they said that somebody had put a offer in higher than mine, i queried them by stating that i had a deposit down and i was told that the property was of the market.

is this allowed to happen?

if i had decided to withdraw my offer then i would have lost my deposit, surely the seller can’t just chop and change his mind after a deposit has been put down.

thank you in advance.

ILW

You have made no loss and at appears no contract was signed.

G_M

Unless you have Exchanged (written) Contracts, either side can change their mind.

The_Palmist

I think you have been very lucky this time. You should have given it a more careful consideration before putting down a deposit. The only person risking any money here was you. Think of the following scenarios:

1. you put down a deposit, bank declines your mortgage application ? Seller might want to keep some or all of your deposit.
2. you put down a deposit, give notice to your landlord or sell your place and then seller pulls out. You are out on streets.

good luck in future.

jimjames

jimmy1973 wrote: »

i recently put a offer in for a home that was going to auction, the offer was accepted and i was told that if i put a deposit down that the property would be taking of the market. I put a deposit down and 30 minutes later i got a phone call of the estate agents saying that they needed to give me the money back as the seller had a change of mind and wanted it to go to auction.

Based on the information you have given it is an entirely feasible that the estate agent complied with your agreement.

Your agreement was that you hand over the deposit and the property was taken off the market. That didn't stop anyone else who had previously viewed the property from making an offer as appears to have happened. It is extremely unlikely that someone would be able to book a viewing and make an offer within 30 mins of your deposit so they must have already seen the property.