Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Wisconsin

Re: deposit for property purchase

It depends on the agreement you had with the person who placed the deposit. It also depends on whether or not you lost another sale while waiting for the person. If you have not lost any sales (or cannot prove the loss) and you do not have a contract, chances are that you must consider returning the money.

I hope this helps-

Earnest Money Deposit for Real Estate Purchase--Refundable to a Buyer with Cold Feet?

In WI, the state Board of Realtors standard real estate purchase contracts provide for "earnest money" deposits which are nonrefundable if the buyer simply gets "cold feet" and decides not to proceed with the purchase. However, if the buyer cannot proceed due to failure of a condition(such as inability of the buyer to get financing), the earnest money is usually returned. Such conditions (known as "contingencies") are negotiated individually in each purchase contract, but the vast majority would allow the seller to keep the money if there was no failure of a contingency. This practice is so common here that you may have an argument to retain the money. There are numerous other legal theories which would form the basis for the seller to keep the money, such as lost opportunities to sell the property to someone else. On the "flip side," however, the seller may have an argument that he has a "right of first refusal" on the property if you keep the money. The bottom line here is that you need to retain your own attorney to advise you in this matter. My comments in this online forum do not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship between us.