Making Earnest Money Deposit Stick (and Mean Something)

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[Post New]02/22/2018 13:36
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Anonymous

It seems like a lot of people are saying that buyers can often get their Earnest Money Deposit back even if they CLEARLY breach the agreement and have waived contingencies.

First, is that true?

Is there anything that can be done to make the Earnest Money Deposit stick -- and still allow the seller to move on quickly with a sale to someone else?
[Post New]02/22/2018 13:39
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Anonymous
The only thing is to choose order with large EMD as it gives you more leverage. You may not be able to keep it but you can refuse to release it and then it gets tied up. Of course, you can’t relist your house either.
[Post New]02/22/2018 13:41
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Anonymous
Buyers always have the upper hand.
[Post New]02/22/2018 13:43
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Anonymous
I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.
[Post New]02/22/2018 13:48
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


What are you talking about, you don't control whether your EMD check gets deposited by the title company? (saying "I've never actually deposited my EMDs" makes no sense - you can't just pretend to make an EMD)
[Post New]02/22/2018 13:54
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


What are you talking about, you don't control whether your EMD check gets deposited by the title company? (saying "I've never actually deposited my EMDs" makes no sense - you can't just pretend to make an EMD)


The title company made a copy of my check, but the money never left my account. I've bought 2 houses within the past 3 years. I wasn't pretending to pay, the money was there if they wanted to cash the check.
[Post New]02/22/2018 16:39
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


What are you talking about, you don't control whether your EMD check gets deposited by the title company? (saying "I've never actually deposited my EMDs" makes no sense - you can't just pretend to make an EMD)


The title company made a copy of my check, but the money never left my account. I've bought 2 houses within the past 3 years. I wasn't pretending to pay, the money was there if they wanted to cash the check.


Np. I wrote one for $10000 last Saturday. Monday morning that check was cashed! Two years ago we bought and they too cashed the check same week.
[Post New]02/23/2018 07:25
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


What are you talking about, you don't control whether your EMD check gets deposited by the title company? (saying "I've never actually deposited my EMDs" makes no sense - you can't just pretend to make an EMD)


The title company made a copy of my check, but the money never left my account. I've bought 2 houses within the past 3 years. I wasn't pretending to pay, the money was there if they wanted to cash the check.


I've never heard of a title company just scanning a check & leaving it at that. What is in escrow? How is the seller protected if you flake on your offer? This makes no sense. Anyone with a legal background hear of this?
[Post New]02/23/2018 07:39
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


That's a little different. You still had contingencies and you exercised one, even if it was a pretext for a different issue. That's not the same as backing out after contingencies have expired.
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:04
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've never actually deposited my EMDs. I just wrote a check and they scanned it- the money never left my account. I think EMDs are fake.

I did breach contract once and 100% got my EMD back. I lost my job the day after we put in a contract on a house in Falls Church. We used the HOA doc clause to get out of the contract even though nothing was wrong with the HOA docs. My realtor said a lot of people use the inspection clause too to get out.


What are you talking about, you don't control whether your EMD check gets deposited by the title company? (saying "I've never actually deposited my EMDs" makes no sense - you can't just pretend to make an EMD)


The title company made a copy of my check, but the money never left my account. I've bought 2 houses within the past 3 years. I wasn't pretending to pay, the money was there if they wanted to cash the check.


I've never heard of a title company just scanning a check & leaving it at that. What is in escrow? How is the seller protected if you flake on your offer? This makes no sense. Anyone with a legal background hear of this?


Sorry but I call BS on this one. Title companies always deposit the check. It would pose a legal problem for them if they didn't (with regard to their obligation to the seller)
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:06
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Anonymous
Agree with PP. The fact that the OP says that they think EMDs are "fake" suggests its some troll or someone who doesn't actually know how the buying process works.
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:24
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Anonymous
I got to keep EMD when it fell through the day before closing. One of the buyers had given notice at her job about a week prior, to quit the week after closing. They could have gotten out during inspection period, couldn't have kept it. They could have gotten out when the house came in low on the appraisal about 10 days before closing (we met in the middle at their request). They could have gotten out by quitting their job before they'd been approved for the loan.

By the day before, all the contingencies had been cleared including the loan contingency. The house and they qualified, until they took a specific action that derailed the sale. We got their money without a fight.

But -- my realtor said in 10 years, this was the first time she had seen a seller get to keep EMD. There are just so many outs for buyers, they definitely have the upper hand. It's rare for someone to do something so egregious and obvious that they were in breach.
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:26
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Vclubmember
Member Offline
The escrow agent, whether it's a title company, the selling broker, or an attorney managing the real estate transfer, will cash the earnest deposit check.
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:27
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I got to keep EMD when it fell through the day before closing. One of the buyers had given notice at her job about a week prior, to quit the week after closing. They could have gotten out during inspection period, couldn't have kept it. They could have gotten out when the house came in low on the appraisal about 10 days before closing (we met in the middle at their request). They could have gotten out by quitting their job before they'd been approved for the loan.

By the day before, all the contingencies had been cleared including the loan contingency. The house and they qualified, until they took a specific action that derailed the sale. We got their money without a fight.

But -- my realtor said in 10 years, this was the first time she had seen a seller get to keep EMD. There are just so many outs for buyers, they definitely have the upper hand. It's rare for someone to do something so egregious and obvious that they were in breach.


I agree completely with this. But even in your egregious situation, if they wanted to play hardball, they could have tied up your house for a long time and made your life difficult if you insisted on keeping their deposit.
[Post New]02/23/2018 08:30
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Anonymous
Yeah, they could have tied it up but we had an awesome agent and they had a shitty agent (obviously), she threw her weight around and they signed the release the next day. We already had an executed backup offer in place. The EMD was only about 1% of the cost of the house, which barely covered the survey we'd paid for and one month of expenses. We closed with the back up buyers a month later, but we had already moved out of the house so I was glad it all went so smoothly with the EMD and already having a 2nd contract in place.
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