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My wife and I were wanting to purchase a home in September and had found one and began the prcess of purchasing the home. During the option period (7 Days) we found no problems with the home and put down the escrow money and the money for the option.
Well, 1 week after that my wife lost her job and I am currently not employed. Needless to say we were now unable to obtain financing for obvious reasons.
In the contract there was a Third Party financing addendem saying that we could terminate the contract and the earnest money should be released.
Well, it has now been about 3 weeks and the escrow company will not release the escrow money. I have contacted our agent several times and he says that they shoudl of released the money by now and they have not. He has also said that the escrow company is saying that they need a letter from the sellers releasing the money.
I am at my wits end about this. What should I do? Contact the sellers agent about this? Contact a lawyer? Wait longer? Contact the escrow company and do everything myself?
We sent the termination contract the DAY she lost her job and we live in Texas. Thanks for any help.
Last edited by wanttoknow000; 10-24-2008 at 10:40 AM..
This is a good example of the kind of thing that real estate agents do, even though there is absolutely no prospect of getting compensated for any of the time and effort that went into the transaction. It becomes a part of the cost of doing business and like all business, everywhere, the cost is passed on to the end consumer.
While it has absolutely nothing to do with this situation, imagine the cost of anything, if the product did not need to be marketed to the consumer or of supporting the sale, insurance, spoilage and retail theft were not huge factors of the end price.
Did your agent get a copy of the termination agreement and if so did he/she pass it on to the listing agent for the seller's sign-off? This is routine stuff. In my area, the property could not go back on the market until the earnest monies from the prior contract are been released. It is in the seller's best interest to respond quickly.
What state are you in? It's different all over. In Texas, the title company can't release the funds unless they receive a signed release from both parties. If they have not received something from the seller, the title company must let the seller know that you are staking claim to the money. If they don't hear from the other party within a particular amount of time, some title companies work with 20 days, some 30 days, then they can release the money to you. But until that time lapses and they get permission to release it, they aren't going to release it.
Perhaps a cordial - yet urgent - visit to the realtors broker, as in, this needs to be properly processed today ,might spur "someone" into action. That has happened here (so I've heard) with agents that put follow up on a lower priority than their "current" buyer. This is indeed routine and also unacceptable. I'm sorry this compounds your already heavy load - but you have to stand up for your rights. That is YOUR money - and this is YOUR life! Good luck!
Keep in mind that in very state things are done differently. Because Escrow companies are a neutral party, they are not in a position to determine who deserves the earnest money. They will release it if both parties agree on it. Have your agent write up an addendum that states "...pursuant to the financing contingency, the earnest money funds shall be released to the buyer.". Your agent should present this form to the listing agent for the sellers' signatures and then submit it to the escrow company.
YOUR agent should be facilitating this. I would ask them if a) they prepared a release and sent it to the sellers agent, and would they need a formal letter from your mortgage person or something proving the loss of the job to help facilitate; and b) if your agent says he/she has requested the release, ask if they have followed up with the other agent or their broker and made sure it was sigend off and sent over to the title company. Make your buyers agent do their job.
If they are being lazy, then call your agents broker and ask him/her what they can do to help facilitatet this. You probably need your money back!!!! With unemployment in the picture I'm guessing you could use that money right about now.
I wouldn't advise getting an attorney involved unless the earnest money was unusually large -- it'll just end up costing you more than it's worth. There is no rule that I know of in Texas that prohibits an escrow agent from releasing the money without the seller's consent when the contract clearly entitles the buyer to receive it. But, escrow companies are extremely risk averse and they don't want to be sued by the seller, so they would prefer to get a release from the seller.
The path of least resistance, most likely, is to get the seller to sign a release. If your agent hasn't already delivered a release to the seller's agent for the seller to sign, you have a very bad agent. Go over their head if you want quick results.
If that doesn't work, contact the title company directly, ask them for a form of the release that they need and send it to the listing agent with instructions that you need it back within 48 hours. If you don't get it back, call the seller and arrange a time to go by the seller's home and get their signature. Let them know that their agent has failed to carry out their duties as well.
There is nothing magic that an agent does in this situation, it's just a matter of getting the release signed by the seller and sending it to the escrow agent. And if the agents refuse to do their job, you will just have to do it yourself. Depending on how disgusted you are with the agents involved, consider pursuing a grievance. Good luck!
Thanks, for all the responses on this. I think I am going to try to get our money back through the seller's agent by providing them the info about her losing her job. I do not believe our agent really cared to get our money back after that deal fell through.
I called him and just asked him (voicemail) to shoot me an e-mail on what I would need to give the seller's agent in order to get the money back. Hopefully he'll respond.
My wife and I were wanting to purchase a home in September and had found one and began the prcess of purchasing the home. During the option period (7 Days) we found no problems with the home and put down the escrow money and the money for the option.
Well, 1 week after that my wife lost her job and I am currently not employed. Needless to say we were now unable to obtain financing for obvious reasons.
In the contract there was a Third Party financing addendem saying that we could terminate the contract and the earnest money should be released.
Well, it has now been about 3 weeks and the escrow company will not release the escrow money. I have contacted our agent several times and he says that they shoudl of released the money by now and they have not. He has also said that the escrow company is saying that they need a letter from the sellers releasing the money.
I am at my wits end about this. What should I do? Contact the sellers agent about this? Contact a lawyer? Wait longer? Contact the escrow company and do everything myself?
We sent the termination contract the DAY she lost her job and we live in Texas. Thanks for any help.
In SC earnest money cannot be released until the buyer and seller both sign a release form agreeing who gets the money.
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