Sellers backing out of contract

[Polina Rothman]

Hi seeking advise. But I g property in westchester. We found the house of our dreams after 2 years of looking. we were happy to find out we were approved for a mortgage. Locked in at 5%. Saw another similarly nice house but went with the house of our first choice and we signed the contract. 2 days before our closing date the sellers decided to back out stating that they had 8 permits still open and did not want to close because of that. There is an obviously other reason. We offered them a whole year before we move ,  in case they needed a place to live - they refused. We said we would pay for the open permits and close them, we just did not want out of contract. Almost 3 months passed since the 10% deposit was paid and other opportunities to buy and lock in at reasonable rate lost. The sellers refused to compensate us in any way. They are only offering to return our 10% deposit. That’s it. 
One of the permits may have a certificate of occupancy that wasn’t closed by the owner and which may now present a problem. Is there anything legally we can do to win this case, if we go to court? They have treated us very poorly and we have lost so much. There no other decent homes on the market right now and the rates are already over 6%. What should we do?  Thanks 

[Eliott Elias]

You have two options 

1. File a Memorandum of Contract $300+

2. File a lawsuit: $10,000+