Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

Did you get a bill of sale? Did you sign over the title to him?

If the title was never signed and he wants to back out of the deal, then I would let him go if you still have the car. You can sell it to someone else. Whether you give the deposit back to him is up to you. I am sure that the agreement did not mention anything about liquidated damages. I also don't know if you will sell the car for more or less money to someone else. If you sell it for less, you might argue that you are entitled to some or all of it as lost profits. If you sell it for more, give him his money back and keep quiet about selling it for more.

If you already gave him the title and the car and did not put a lien on the title, he now has the car. He can't give it back and you do not have to take it back. He has to pay you for it and if he does not, then you can sue.

You don't wait for him to decide to pay you. You will be waiting a long long time. If he has the car and the title, you need to send him a letter. You and he need to resolve this somehow - either offer to take the car back, if that is what you want to do (have him sign the title if necessary) or he needs to pay.

If he does not have the car and you never signed the title, then tell him to pay up within 30 days or make arrangements. Require him to sign a promissory note providing for interest if he wants to pay over time. If he is not going to pay at all or does not respond within 30 days, tell him the agreement will be considered breached and tell him you will sell to someone else. Unlikely he will sign a termination agreement, but you can ask. The termination agreement just needs to say that you and he entered into an agreement and you are deciding to terminate that agreement. You and he are going to have to decide how much if any of the deposit you will refund to him or if you are going to keep it as liquidated damagees. You took the car off the market and now have to start the process again and since he is the one in breach he should pay something to you. If he does not agree, then do as I said, sell the car to someone elsee and decide after the second sale how much you are going to refund, if anything, to him.