Wholesaler is a broker and has re-assigned the contract

[Luke Grogan]

Here’s the basic info: I put a house under contract by paying the wholesaler, who is a FL real estate broker, the assignment fee. In working to get insurance, I found out the home was not insurable and I wouldn’t be able to complete the repairs in under 30 days to get it insured because it is currently tenant occupied until the end of the lease.

I notified the wholesaler that there are some issues here and I would either need to buy it with cash (as intended) and leave it uninsured while hustling to do the roof, AC, and electric panel in under 30 days (a little tough to do with the permitting of a roof in Brevard county, FL right now).

He said he’d check to see if any other buyers were interested and would “consider” refunding the assignment fee. I understood that if he couldn’t move it, it would not just be on him to lose the deposit, so I could understand keeping it in that case. 

The wholesaler has found a buyer and is now refusing to return any portion of the assignment fee. The fee was $5,000. What would you do?