Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

I am currently under contract for a town home that was signed in April 2010. I deposited $2,500 in good faith deposit. The home is a shortsale and I just received approval by the bank of the property after submission of 2 counter offer responses. My real estate agent did not provide the information in the addendum that we discussed when submitting the counteroffers. Nor can she provide me documentation of the submissions. I'm beginning to trust her less and less because of small discrepancies building up to larger ones that she's writing off as "oh, I forgot, I'm sorry" without ever addressing the issues; or giving the excuse that she recently invested in 2 assisted living homes that are occupying her time b/c her partner pretty much backed out of the labor work and just assisted financially. I feel that she's not doing her job as a realtor because of the attention she's giving to the assisted living homes. For instance, the last addendum that I submitted should have included information about the need/requirement for replaced appliances and repairs to the furnace, GFI and waterline/garbage disposal as result of inspection. I found out that she didn't request any appliance replacement/repairs. Also in the counter-offer she was supposed to submit a new offer and include an explaination as to why I was making the offer---she never included the details that we discussed over the phone. This is similar to the what happened with the 2nd counteroffer submission that I did receive a copy of. Is there anyway to back out of this contract without losing my good faith deposit. At this point I don't think she's doing an efficient job and nor do I trust that she's acting in my best interest as she should. I'm getting very frustrated and stressed out over the entire process.


Asked on 8/18/10, 4:37 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Phillip M. Cook Cook Legal Services, LLC

Short sales are a frustrating enough process without a lazy real estate agent. It sounds as though you want the house, otherwise you would not have put the deposit down. If you could fire your agent (without cost to you), would you still want to proceed with the short sale? I would recommend having a Maryland attorney review your contract (do you have a written one?) with the agent to see if there's anything you can do to get out. In the meantime, there is nothing that is preventing you from contacting the owner/owner's lender to discuss your concerns about your addenda --- the seller and seller's lender would much rather hear about the potential issues now, instead of at the closing table. If you want out of the sales contract and your deposit returned, you will also need to hire a Maryland attorney to review the sales contract to see if this is possible. Please let me know if I can be of assistance -- I am physically located in Atlanta, but am licensed in good standing to practice law in Maryland, DC, and Georgia.

Best of luck.******The above does not establish an attorney-client relationship and is intended for informational purposes only.*******

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Answered on 8/23/10, 5:25 am


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