Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: real estate seller right to cancel

Right to cancel what? You probably mean to ask whether a seller of real estate has a right to cancel a contract to sell, such as a "Residential Real Property Deposit and Purchase Agreement" or a similarly-named form used to buy and sell houses.

When such a contract is signed by both buyer and seller, and any contingencies affecting a party's right to pull out are satisfied or removed, documents like this do not carry any general right to cancel (usually referred to as a right to rescind) and are enforceable in court.

A would-be buyer can sue a seller who is refusing to go through with a sale of real estate for what is called "specific performance," meaning that instead of having to accept money damages, the jilted buyer can sue for an order requiring the seller to sell.

Contracts of all kinds can be rescinded (in effect, "cancelled") for any of a number of reasons spelled out in the Civil Code (see section 1689 for most of them). The reasons include mistake and failure of consideration. However, "mistake" does not mean or include "I made a big mistake in listing my house for only $200,000." Mistake means things that prevent a true agreement from being reached between buyer and seller, for example, if there are two 100 Elm Street houses in your town, and you had in mind the one on East Elm and the other party had in mind the one on West Elm.

Sellers are often stuck with having to sell if the buyer is insistent. Consult with your real estate agent or get an attorney at once.