Q: Attorney acting as title agent did not deposit earnest money and seller now refusing to sell. Is this legal?
We were under contract to purchase real estate and were notified week of closing that seller refused to close because title agent did not deposit earnest money although it was sent to them immediately.
A: It does not appear that you actually had a contract to begin with. But even if breached, you would be lucky to get the earnest money back. I doubt that you would want to actually prosecute a Specific Performance Action. Most title companies do not have any attorneys, so you may be mistaken. But if not then you might report the lawyer for theft to the Board. In any event purchasing that real property will probably not go well, so look elsewhere.
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