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I am selling my house, it was under contract for 6 weeks and the buyers just cancelled for no reason and only offered a little more than half the earnest money. What legally can I sue them for? I had another offer on the house besides theres and because of what they did to convince me to go with them (long story) I selected them. We have finished all inspections and I have fixed there repairs request which was very minor. He never applied for the loan, that I am aware of but the people that qualified them stated they can still get the same loan they were qualified for. So what legally can I sue them for, my realtors are recommending this action.
You can sue them for anything you want, it's america! However in this situation you can either sue for specific performance (force them to purchase your home under the terms of the contract) or take the full earnest money.
Specific performance will get messy and most likely end up just wasting your time and money. Unless the buyers had a legitimate way out of the contract ie inspections, financing, appraisal....you should be entitled to all of the earnest money. In FL you shouldn't even have to sue for this, if there is a dispute over a deposit either the broker that holds the escrow or the title company that holds it has specific procedures it must take to settle.
When we were househunting a year ago, we actually had the sellers back out of the contract after we had given notice to our employers, landlord, ordered moving announcements, etc! We didn't sue but knew it was an option. We just didn't want to be consumed by the process when what we really needed to do was get a home — and fast!
Now the situation is reversed for someone I know. They are buyers and don't want the house now. This is NC and they already know that at the least, the sellers are entitled to keep the earnest money. No problem. They want to know what other liable is at stake here because they are suddenly very uncomfortable with this purchase although they have no contractual reason to back out.
I am selling my house, it was under contract for 6 weeks and the buyers just cancelled for no reason and only offered a little more than half the earnest money. What legally can I sue them for? I had another offer on the house besides theres and because of what they did to convince me to go with them (long story) I selected them. We have finished all inspections and I have fixed there repairs request which was very minor. He never applied for the loan, that I am aware of but the people that qualified them stated they can still get the same loan they were qualified for. So what legally can I sue them for, my realtors are recommending this action.
Call a Real estate Lawyer, but remember you can not get anything if they don't have anything........
I had a buyer in Atlanta try to walk away about 10 days before closing. A $50 letter from a real estate attorney explaining the ramifications of a "specific performance" lawsuit and them being forced to buy the house or pay all expenses until it is resold and all legal fees fixed it real quick.
We found once all of the contingencies were removed (inspections etc.) the only thing that could kill the deal DEAD (escape clause) was financing. If that was withdrawn by the bank (as long as the buyer didn't intentionally cause it to happen) we had to let it go.
Good luck and as said above, find a good attorney, especially if your agent is suggesting it!
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