Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Legal Advice Please
My neighbor wanted to buy a dog from an advertisement in the local paper, she gave the seller a deposit and found out she could not afford to purchase the dog.
She signed an agreement regarding the purchase stating that after three days of purchase of the dog the seller has no responsibility regarding the condiotion of the dog.

She asked for her deposit back since she couldn't buy the dog and the seller refused.
She then borrowd the money to purchase the dog and again the seller refused to sell the dog to her and return her deposit.

She called him and this time he said he would give her half of her money, which is not acceptable, as there is no mention in the agreement regadring a deposit.

Now every time she calls the seller hangs up the phone.

What can she do to get her deposit back?

Thank you,
John

Asked on 5/22/06, 7:43 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Roger Traversa Arjont Group (Law Office of Roger Traversa)

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Re: Legal Advice Please

A deposit can be considered a binder on a contract. The deposit is often placed with the seller to assure 1) that the purchaser will perform and 2) that the seller will be compensated for the purchaser's failure to perform.

In this case the seller took a deposit on an item (a dog) and held that item for the purchaser. The seller may have foregone other sales, cancelled the advertisement or come to other cost or expense because of the potential sale. When the purchaser failed to follow through on the sale the seller was generally able to retain the deposit. That is the whole reason for taking a deposit.

When the purchaser refused to perform the previous contract was destroyed. Essentially the seller had earned the deposit at that point. Even when the purchaser went back to offer to complete the sale the purchaser had no cause to complete the sale because the previous contract was void (as of when the purchaser defaulted).

There are a lot of variables, such as if the Uniform Commercial Code applied and maybe some specific laws about transactions in dogs or pets. But generally, if you make a deposit on a contract and fail to perform you forfiet the deposit. It was a minor stroke of goodwill for the seller to offer to return half the deposit but I don't think even that much was due. Also, the fact that the seller refused to return the deposit or complete a new transaction demonstrates that either the seller knows its business, is concerned that your friend was not in a position to care for a dog s/he could not afford, or was just cheap and obstinate. The agreement may have spoken to the matters and may trump what I've written, but if the contract was silent then what I wrote above is accurate.

Next time, go to the local animal shelter. Mutts need love too.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]

Answered on 5/23/06, 9:18 am

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