Q: Is anyone liable for a botched real estate escrow holdback that was intended to repair and ac post closing?
I bought a single family home with a known broken ac. We wanted the ac fixed but the ac company could not come for for 3 weeks so we elected not to delay closing and just set aside money in an escrow hold back to repair and service ac post closing. Our closing attorney held the repair money in escrow and the seller paid for the ac company to come out. Once they came out they determined the ac needed to be replaced. The seller submitted the inspection invoice to our closing agent to be reimbursed for that invoice as it was part of the repair costs. For what ever reason our closing agent then released all the ac repair money back to the seller even though the invoice clearly stated the ac was not fixed and needed replacement. No communication to us at all regarding any of this. We finally got ready to replace the ac we called the escrow agent to find out how to disburse funds only to find out there was no money left. Is my closing attorney liable for this, is the seller liable? Am I just
A: The Seller should have realized this was an error, and if a nice guy may return it otherwise it should not have been released from escrow if the conditions weren't met so talk to your attorney, someone should be responsible for this error. If your attorney sweeps it under the rug try getting another attorney to follow up on this. Attorneys have fiduciary duty to be in control of funds they are holding for their clients and should be accountable for giving it away. Sometimes mistakes happen, but the client needs to be made whole.
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A: If your escrow agreement was well drafted, the answer should be yes, the escrow agent had no business releasing the funds unilaterally and is responsible for a gross breach of its duty as an escrow agent.
1 user found this answer helpful
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