Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

We were approached by an individual to purchase an acre of our land to enlarge the property above us that he wanted to purchase from another individual..he wrote up an agreement for $20,000 and he gave us $1,000 trust money..we waited for over 5 months and we finally contacted him and he said he changed his mind and did not want to purchase..now he wants his trust money back...do we have to return it? we never gave him a receipt for the money and the agreement was never witnessed or notarized..please advise..thanks so much! We kept all his letters and e-mails that he said he wanted to purchase. We waited and never heard anything, then we contacted him and he said he changed his mind about purchasing but by the way he wanted his money.


Asked on 9/05/09, 7:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Gibson John W. Gibson, Esquire

It depends on what the Magisterial District Judge or Arbitration Panel decides the intent of the parties was. If I sere the seller, I'd argue that in consideration of the hand money you agreed to hold the property open for a reasonable length of time and that you were willing to continue to hold it open. If I were the potential buyer, I'd argue that it was impossible to buy the property because of his financial situation and that allowing you to keep the money would be a forfeiture in that you suffered no damages whatsoever, out of pocket or otherwise.

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Answered on 9/15/09, 1:55 pm


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