Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

More facts would be helpful here. Sounds like an agent's mistake, but maybe the buyer misurnderstood something. Questions would include (1) who signed the offer; (2) did you put up any deposit money, which is usual in opening escrow; and (3) have you seen or been offered an opportunity to look at the offer, acceptance and perhaps escrow documents? I think the key here is whether you have been treated as the buyer in all respects, or whether the agent suffered from momentary confusion between two buyer-clients.

I agree with Mr. Whipple that more information is needed, but I don't see the relevance of most of his questions. If you were using standard Cal. Assn. of Realtors forms, you signed the offer, it was delivered to the seller, the seller signed it as accepted, you have a contract for the sale of the property that is enforceable. You can either sue for specific performance, meaning the seller must sell to you on the terms agreed, or for breach of contract. Breach of contract is rarely of much use, however, because your measure of damages is the difference between your agreed price and the value of the property. So at most your recovery would be the difference between your price and the offer of the other buyer which is presumably higher or we wouldn't be here, but usually not enough to bother suing over. The only problem is if there was some defect in your offer that allows the seller to get out of the contract OR if the seller accepted the other offer first. In that case, however, you would still be entitled to sue for breach of contract. If a single agent was acting as both buyer and seller's agent (dual agency) then you would also have a right to sue the agent for breach of fiduciary duty.

I see a breach and agree with Mr. McCormick. The issue would be whether you could sue for specific performance of the contract, or elect to just sue for damages, which would be the difference between what you agreed to purchase and the value of the property. I think the paperwork would have to be reviewed to determine whether there was a mutual mistake of fact that would justify and excuse the breach.