Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Connecticut

Usually on the bottom of the first page or top of the second page is Mortgage Contingency clause, which says that you are applying for a mortgage for such and such amount at x interest, etc. It also says that if you don't get mortgage approval by the date in the contingency clause, so long as you notify the seller BY THAT DATE, you can back out of the contract and get your deposit back. If you had not gotten the mortgage approval by that date, did you notify the seller? If not, why not?

There's another paragraph in the middle somewhere, titled "Default". It says that if you are in default, seller gets to keep the deposit.

You may not be in default yet, however. Unless the contract says that as to the date for closing "time is of the essence", (and it pretty much has to use those exact words) then you have a "reasonable" amount of time to close. The cases say what is reasonable depends on the circumstances, but is usually between 2 and 4 weeks. so if you hustle your butt off and get a mortgage and be ready to close by the end of August, you shouldn't be in default. Of course, if you timely notified the seller about your inability to obtain the first mortgage, you should be fine.