Deposit/Earnest money refund
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Deposit/Earnest money refund
I was looking for 5 bedrooms to buy. I found a builder and show me a model
home with 5 bedroom. The fifth bedroom was very small. The closet is even
very small. The sales person told me the attic as a 6 bedroom with a walk-in
closet. I agree and signed a contract giving them 15k deposit. I had contingency agreement with them as well. After they finish framing, they called
us for walk in. The so-called
Asked on June 9, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
That you can't sell your house is irrelevant unless that was the contingency you describe: if so, you can enforce the terms of that contingency exactly as they are in the contract of sale, if such helps you. You have whatever rights the contract gives you, but no other rights.
If you were misled about the size of rooms or about whether a room would have a walk-in closet, however, that may provide grounds to rescind or void the contract for fraud: that is, due to the seller/builder knowingly misrepresenting (that is, lying about) some material (important) fact to get you to enter into the transaction. If you can show the misrepresentation, you may be able to void the contract and get your money back--if they won't voluntarily release the money and let you out of the contract, you'd have to sue and convince a court that they lied and the lie was important to your decision to buy (an unimportant lie does not change anything).
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
That you can't sell your house is irrelevant unless that was the contingency you describe: if so, you can enforce the terms of that contingency exactly as they are in the contract of sale, if such helps you. You have whatever rights the contract gives you, but no other rights.
If you were misled about the size of rooms or about whether a room would have a walk-in closet, however, that may provide grounds to rescind or void the contract for fraud: that is, due to the seller/builder knowingly misrepresenting (that is, lying about) some material (important) fact to get you to enter into the transaction. If you can show the misrepresentation, you may be able to void the contract and get your money back--if they won't voluntarily release the money and let you out of the contract, you'd have to sue and convince a court that they lied and the lie was important to your decision to buy (an unimportant lie does not change anything).
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