Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

deposit to make an offer changed

I have a concern regarding the sale of my father's home.

My agreed to an offer yesterday. Today, an addendum was faxed over regarding the buyer's deposit. Apparently the realtor didn't have a check when they made the offer. And the check is 2/3 what it should have been. The additional 1/3 will be in in almost 2 weeks.

Realtor hasn't gotten back to me regarding the discrepancy.

While this is clearly unprofessional, is it legal?

The deposit check is a low number check and is 2/3 what the contract stated.

I feel like the buyer may not be solvent and that my dad's agent may not have his best interests in mind.

Does Florida law allow an offer to be made with no deposit check?

Thanks for any insight.


Asked on 12/19/08, 1:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Re: deposit to make an offer changed

I do not know what Florida law says, but the contract language is what is controlling. If they are required to deposit $X then technically there is no joint agreement to the contract.

I agree, especially since you are probably speaking of a low amount of missing deposit [1/3 of 10% down is 3% o fthe sales price] is a bad sign of whether they will follow through on the payments or not. But if this is an all cash sale so that the seller gets 100% of the sales price and you have no competive offers, you probably want the sale to go through. Demand that you be allowed to speak to the lender to find out wht the details of the loan is and insist that the buyers show you proof of their ability to pay the rest of the sale's price. If they default, look to the contract to see if you can keep the whole deposit.

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Answered on 12/19/08, 1:17 pm


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