Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

Breach of Contract

I had a contract to sell my home and the buyer was a real estate agent representing herself. She works for a national company. She breached the contract and failed to close. In the process she lied and I later found out never turned in the contract or earnest money to her broker. When all of this happened and I began calling the broker, she turned in check and contract and the check bounced. Once our home went under contract, we told her we removing a contigency on another home b/c the contract stated that we had to give her possession of the house at time of closing. We had to have somewhere to live. She backed out of the contract 3 days prior to closing. The builder of our new home forced us to close, understandably...but we cannot afford 2 homes. I know I have a strong case and have alll documentation. I cannot afford to hire an atty since I am paying for 2 homes. Can I take her to Magistrate Court and sue her for the amount I am paying monthly b/c the house did not close? I know I have a $15K limit in magistrate court, but I read something somewhere that real estate matters cannot go to magistrate court. Help! I hope that is not true because I cannot afford an atty to take the case to another court.


Asked on 9/29/06, 1:44 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Re: Breach of Contract

You can sue for money damages in Magistrate Court, even if the underlying contract is over real estate. However, what are your damages? Until you sell the old house, you don't know how much you are damaged. Maybe you sell it for more? You may or may not get all of your double payments as you took some of the risk the sale would fall through when you entered into the agreement for the new house. Either way, don't assume Magistrate Court means a quick recovery, even if you win, so don't proceed depending on that happening (though it would be nice if it did).

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Answered on 9/29/06, 1:59 pm


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