Reader asks, “How do I get a part of or my whole deposit back on a property?”
October 24th, 2007 . by Mike KellyI don’t know WHY you’d “return” all or part of a deposit–especially the “part” portion?? They sound like the same animal to me. If they accomplish the same thing THEY are the same animal. Cancellation of a contract and release of deposit is standard contractual forms. You can ALSO release the deposit to the Seller to further solidify a contract. I’ve done this with land sales where we hit certain benchmarks in the contract and release funds to the Seller. This is done at “tentative map” phase of the contract and at the “bonding” process for final map. If you have a long escrow or an escrow where the buyer is selling a relinquished property, you could demand a portion of the deposit be release and be non-refundable. Almost an option payment if you will. Might be a hard dog to hunt in this market but if someone wants something bad enough it is not a bad strategy.
