sold our home but the buyers backed out at last minute

[madaline]

my husband and i live here in minnesota and over the summer
we put our home up for sale and got a offer on it and we accepted it but it was all most 6500.00 less than it was the asking price was and this couple came and put their offer in and said that they finances were in order but then we found out that they lied and their finances were not in order and they put 500.00 earnist money down and they lied a total of 3 times to use and i guess the straw that broke the cammels back was they told us that they have a horse valued at 10,000.00 that they were going to sell over the week end. i told them that was fine but i wanted it to be appraised before they sell it and a hour later they called backed and said we;re sorr we lied again to you in the mean time we took our home off the market and was not showing it because we thought that they would be honest at some point but we were wrong now they want their earnest money back and we said no because of them we had out of pocket expesses like mileage,loss of work because my husband had to take vacation and could not cancell it because this all happened on a friday we had to move about 400 bales of hay back and forth (we were allowed to have access to they barn for the hay only because it was such a large amount of it)
plus trailor rental ,we also asked some of our freinds to help and they also had to take off of work to help us but at the last mins the buyers backed out and they could not cancel their vaction and now the former buyers want their earnist money back but we said no and now they are going to sue us. because of all this mess we all most lost the house that we wanted to buy (their finances we had to back out of the house that we were trying to buy not 1 time but a total for 3 times) so if there is any body out there that is willing to help us we would apperaciate any advice that we can get. thank you for taking the time to read this and may god bless you all

 

[TimC]

Make sure your paperwork is in order that documents everything that happened. Then, the next time they call, say "Go ahead and sue, but be prepared for a breach of contract lawsuit."

Was there a realtor involved for either party?

 

[HomeGuru]

The first order of business is to hire a Realtor to list and sell your property. You apparently are not qualified and experienced enough to do things the right way.

 

[madaline]

The first order of business is to hire a Realtor to list and sell your property. You apparently are not qualified and experienced enough to do things the right way.

we did hire a realtor and he kept on saying that this dose not happen or it is very rare that this happens
but he also is telling us that they are intitled to get their money back because of lack of finances on their part but i still think that we should get something for our mileage,time off of work and fair ware and tear on my truck for hauling all that hay back and forth.

 

[HomeGuru]

If the purchase was contingent on financing and the Buyers could not qualify, then they are entitled to get their earnest money back. Apparently you jumped the gun with moving the hay so you must eat the expenses.

 

[madaline]

the whole problem is that they lied and said it was except for about 10,000.00 and when they could not get it thats when they deciced to be honest and to tell us that they lied
again that is when they told us about this so called
10,000.00 dollar horse
thats when we said no on the 500.00 earnest money for them not to get back and we simply drew the line in the sand and said no more lies no more changeing the closeing dates and no to returnning the earnest money.

 

[madaline]

I also want to thank you for your advice i just want to let you know that it is well appreciated by not only me but my family also so thank you.

 

[HomeGuru]

You and your family are welcome.

I am sure that there is no provision in the contract that allows you to keep the Buyer's earnest money if they lied to you. So even it would seem logical to keep their deposit as punishment for their default, you must abide by the terms and conditions in the contract and follow applicable real estate and contract laws.