Q: Question about real estate law
In 2019 we had a property that we were selling in Houston Texas in which we went under contract. The buyer decided to terminate a day before closing and which we were both in dispute of the earnest money. We had gone under mediation with no outcome determined the earnest money sat with title until June 2024, in which they released the funds to the state I recently got with title and apparently they only put the buyer as the owner of the funds in which he has already claimed the money. Since the earnest money was sitting with title and still under dispute, do we have grounds as the seller to go after title, since they did not properly handle the funds when turning it over to the state?
A:
Sorry to hear about your issues.
would like to see your buy/sell agreement, so I can know what was written about Earnest Money. Usually the seller alone gets to keep the Earnest Money, when the buyer backs out.
If the contract says you should have received it, the Title company owes you the money you lost. What's more is that you will need to sue them to get your money back. This might be a problem, as there might be a clause in your agreement with the Title companay, whereby all disputes must go to Arbitration. You need to check on that and get back to me or another attorney, so you can get your money back.
I hope this helps!
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