Over a month later out of state agent still has my $1K EMD

[Ramel Sherman]

Greetings Biggerpockets Community, 

I have a situation with an out of state agent and I'm curious if someone who has dealt with this kind of behavior before can lead me in the right direction:

I found (what I thought) was a great Agent/Property Manager/Owner of a Construction company in Detroit while doing a search for a MF.  He came highly recommended by an Inspector I worked with who has great reviews on Yelp.  This agent and I went back and forth for a month or two making numerous offers on MFs in the Detroit area.  Everything was going great, he was responsive on the phone and took the time to visit properties and take pictures.  

The problem happened during our last offer on a SF unit that looked promising. We had the house inspected, everything looked good so the next step was to make an offer. He wrote up the offer and I signed it digitally like we had done many times in the past. This was the first (and last) time that we got far even to put down an EMD. I Chase quick paid him the $1K via online payment Zelle quick transfer. About a week later we decided not to go with the house. That was the beginning of November. I tried asking the bank to pull back the funds and they said no. In the contract it does not say that he can keep my EMD, it says that it is a deposit that will be applied to the house. There is a section about disputes for EMD, is it time to go this route? I've asked over and over for my $1k back but now I don't get a phone call back or any replies.

P.S. The Inspection guy is suddenly MIA as well.  

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Ramel Sherman]

I applied a little "heat" and was able to get it back right away via paypal.  Thanks for your feedback everyone, definitely will NOT be doing this again!

Happy Holidays and I wish you all the best in what is going to be an AMAZING 2019!