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Updated over 7 years ago, 03/24/2017
Real estate agent stole my deposit
Me and my girl friend went to look at a property in Independence Mo. After we looked at it we asked if we could put in an application for it. The agent said yes, but we would have to put half of the deposit down also. She said it was refundable. We put down 70 dollars for the 2 applications, and 430 for half of the deposit. We got approved and the agent asked when could we move in. We said a month from now. 2 weeks later we decided not to move in and the agent said our deposit is not refundable because they took the house off the market when we said we're moving in. (Which is not true because we seen it still up while we were looking for other homes). I went to their office and pretended to be interested in another home and the front desk women told me that all i had to do was fill out the application, and pay 35 dollars for the fee. I then asked if i had to put down a deposit also, and she said no thats not required. We never signed any document's other than the application. We never committed to buying this home. We would have never put down the deposit if the agent wouldn't have told us it's required just to put the application in. I spoke to her boss and he said he require's people to put the deposit down also. I then informed him that she lied and said we had to do it, and that that's not their policy, he then got mad and hung up on me. Is there any way I can get my money back?
Name of the place is..
US Real Estate Equity Builder.
Kcmo
Ask to sit down with the head broker of the real estate office. Say you want clarification on what happened to your "deposit". If you are not satisified, or they will not sit down with you, tell them you will file a grievance with the Missouri Realtor Association as well as with the Real Estate Commission of Missouri. The brokers license is on the line, so I guarantee he'll want this resolved. If you want your money back and you believe you are in the right, file a small claims suit against them.
we were going to rent.
@Lee Rimmer a holding deposit put down to hold a house for you is not refundable if you change your mind and don't want to live there.
A different house could have a totally different landlord and different policy.
You say it was still "up" and not off the market, but a lot of the listing websites online can take a LONG time to update status.
@Lee Rimmer I work at USREEB and know this story to it's entirety.
You submitted your applications, application fees ($70) and half of the deposit ($430) on February 22nd. We always require a deposit to hold a property. This is standard in the real estate industry.
We contacted you all on February 26th and told you that you were approved for the house. Your move in date was set for March 22nd. We did not take any other applications during the time that you were waiting to move in. You contacted the leasing agent on March 20th to tell us you didn't want the property anymore and we had been holding it for almost 30 days at this point. Our deposits are only refundable if your application is denied. This is stated in the application that you signed.
You did not come into our office. When you called we told you that you can submit an application but we require a deposit to hold a property. You forfeit your deposit if you back out, which again, is very common in the real estate and leasing industry to protect an owner if you were to walk away.
Our criteria is very strict and we hold all applicants accountable. I'm sorry.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us!
Thank you
I'm lost on how you know this story entirely when you weren't the agent. The agent, who's name is Nicole told us that we HAVE to put a deposit down just to fill out the app. I spoke to your her boss Mike yesterday and he said he does the same thing. He requires people to put down the deposit just to fill out the app. I went to your office yesterday and some lady gave me an app for a different property and told me I am NOT required to put a deposit down just to fill out an app. Which means Nicole lied to us.
And yes I did come into your office. You have to get buzzed in. I came in at the same time the lady filling out the application for cleaning came in. It was 2:40pm. And there was a black guy sitting in the chair to the right of the door looking at paper work. So for you to speak on the story, please know the story.
The problem is Nicole lied and said we have to put the deposit down just to fill out the app. If we put in the application, with the fees and no deposit. Then after we got approved we put the deposit down, we'd know we couldn't get our deposit back if we changed our mind.
But you agent clearly lied when she said we HAVE to put it down to fill out the app.
If she didn't lie, there would be no problem.
So if you weren't there for her to tell us, you HAVE to put the deposit down to fill out the app... Don't speak on what you THINK you know entirely.
@Lee Rimmer Requiring a deposit with an application is not at all uncommon and is in no way some sort of scam. What makes the money you paid a deposit if its fully refundable? Why would they bother collecting it if that was the case?
I'm not sure what you're looking for here from us, but you're like a vegan walking into a butcher convention if there you're trying to convince us this is wrong.
that's crazy there is a grantor and debtor in this post
sounds like you need to work it out so all parties are being civil
the agency does not need to fleece the market by arrogance if the people cant get moved in and the property is not tied up then return the deposit
if you are going to tell someone you want the property then don't put them in a position where you loose your earnest money or deposits
cant we all just get along?
HA!
enjoy
hope it all gets worked out
In court a renter,buyer has a (right to their own inquiry). Meaning the judge will ask ( did you read what was in writing and SIGN IT?)
If the answer is YES then do not look for a judge to be sympathetic. If you didn't read it and said so and so said this to me so I went off of that is even worse.
The right of your own inquiry means you did your due diligence upfront and knew the risk going in before signing a contract.
Verbal agreements in some states are deemed to be unenforceable in a court of law even though they maybe be legal. The reason is because it can be considered here say and the judge would have a hard time discerning who is telling the truth rather than looking at a hard physical document in writing.
When a judge asks if you signed something make sure to be accurate with the answer. If not a judge can find someone in contempt of court and put them in jail.
If what you signed in writing says non-refundable it doesn't matter what someone told you. What matters is what is agreed to in writing ( whether you read no words, some of the words, all of the words is a choice you made before signing the contract). When I go to the city for an answer on something with development unless it is in writing I do not put weight on it. That employee could be gone next week. If I have a physical document I generally have recourse to enforce it.
At this point if you have a valid contract that says non-refundable then you might be wasting your time. If you file something with the real estate commission they assign an investigator but before that you generally have to certify under oath and get notarized that what you are saying is true and correct. The investigators at the real estate commissions have limited resources so put the people filing claims through hoops to try and make sure it's not an angry buyer or seller in the moment trying to get back at someone with no merit.
After the investigator looks into it if there is no basis for findings they will usually drop the case and close it out.
You might could try the legal route in court instead but again if you signed a contract it is what it is.
NO legal advice given.
- Joel Owens
- Podcast Guest on Show #47
The Application say's, (Application fee non refundable). The lady said the deposit was refundable, and said we had to put it down to fill out an app. We still were looking at other properties. The deposit we put down was for us to put in the app... Not a deposit for the home. We put the deposit in only because she said we had to in order to fill out the app.
@Lee Rimmer you put down a holding deposit while you were being processed and the home came off the market to other prospective applicants. My company does the very same thing, and is very common here in Florida too. Once you are approved, the holding deposit becomes your security deposit, you sign the lease and move in. Although you did not sign the lease or move in, that means your holding deposit is now non -refundable for failing to take occupancy and the owner of the property has lost several weeks of being able to lease to someone else because you held up the property for that amount of time. Why you would put up a holding deposit and continue to look for another home is beyond me. This is one of the main reasons "holding deposits:" are necessary for people like you who cant make up their mind and the owner is the one that ends up losing in the end.
Let this be a lesson to you to read everything and get serious when you are looking for a home whether to rent or buy
@Account Closed I feel for your pain!!! keep up the good work and strict policies
- Kim Meredith Hampton
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- Podcast Guest on Show The Key to Scoring Discounted Deals in One of America’s Hottest Markets
Lee, don't bring your strong accusations here. Everytime you respond you sound foolish.
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#4 Real Estate Deal Analysis & Advice Contributor
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@Lee Rimmer
I agree with everyone else here. You said both the agent and the BOSS said it was required to have a deposit put in with the application. and that "some lady" who was probably only a receptionist said it wasn't required. so that makes both the agent and the boss liars? So you can basically said, this random person said this and thus all of you are wrong...
When the agent says the deposit is refundable, it definitely only means in the case you are denied. I just took the application for a couple tenants last week and I also got the deposit and application fees as well.
There is never a deposit for putting in an app and only for the app...that's the point of the application fee....
You learned a hard lesson
Originally posted by @Jeremy Paschedag:
Lee, don't bring your strong accusations here. Everytime you respond you sound foolish.
What are my accusations?
You learned a lesson, the portion of the holding deposit wasn't refundable once you were approved, You cancelled, you didn't move forward with leasing the property. Your loss.
Move on.
The lesson is only put a deposit down if you intend to rent the property. When you are approved and then back out, the deposit is lost for the holding of the property, even if it wasn't taken off the market. Deposits are refundable if don't get approved. Personally, I would not give a deposit until I was approved and guaranteed the unit. If a company said it was mandatory to put an application fee and deposit, I would laugh and move on. Why would I put a deposit on something that they are not offering me yet? Get approved, then put the deposit down. Realize if after you are approved and put a deposit down, if you back out you lose the deposit. Don't put a deposit down until you know you are committed.
Originally posted by @Lee Rimmer:
Originally posted by @Jeremy Paschedag:
Lee, don't bring your strong accusations here. Everytime you respond you sound foolish.
What are my accusations?
Have you read the TITLE of your own thread? Saying someone STOLE from you, when in fact you were not doing your own due diligence, is an accusation.
Just FYI.
Originally posted by @MIchael Rickerd:
Originally posted by @Lee Rimmer:
Originally posted by @Jeremy Paschedag:
Lee, don't bring your strong accusations here. Everytime you respond you sound foolish.
What are my accusations?
Have you read the TITLE of your own thread? Saying someone STOLE from you, when in fact you were not doing your own due diligence, is an accusation.
Just FYI.
When she says, you have to put down the deposit in order to put in an app. That's a lie. I spoke to several people at the company and they said it's not true. Even when I messaged her and brought up her lying about putting the deposit down, she didnt respond with, no thats our policy. She said maybe if it was the first week you could get your money back. Her boss even said it's not true. But he did say he also does that as well. If I were completely wrong they never would have told me I could've gotten my money back if it were the first week if that was truly their policy. BUT I will admitt that I should've known NOT to put a deposit down when ONLY filling out the application.
Look at rocket lawyer or similar. Maybe for a nominal cost an attorney could review the agreement you signed. https://www.rocketlawyer.com/plans-pricing.rl#/
If the conclusion is the same that there is no chance of recovering the money then at some point you really have to chalk it up to a learning experience.
There are people on this board that have lost 4,5,6 figures before. Doing anything in life sometimes things do not go as planned. The key is what you do and learn from each experience that counts.
No legal advice given.
- Joel Owens
- Podcast Guest on Show #47
Originally posted by @Joel Owens:
Look at rocket lawyer or similar. Maybe for a nominal cost an attorney could review the agreement you signed. https://www.rocketlawyer.com/plans-pricing.rl#/
If the conclusion is the same that there is no chance of recovering the money then at some point you really have to chalk it up to a learning experience.
There are people on this board that have lost 4,5,6 figures before. Doing anything in life sometimes things do not go as planned. The key is what you do and learn from each experience that counts.
No legal advice given.
Thanks for the advice. It is most definitely a lesson learned.
@Lee Rimmer Since I was not in the room with you I cannot speak with any certainty what was or was not said. However, it seems like a miscommunication to me. A deposit is generally refundable if you do not get the property because the firm leases it to someone else or for some reason the property is not leased at all.
That being said the purpose of a down-payment/deposit/earnest money is to prove your serious about taking the property when and if it is available. Again, while I can not say whether or not this was clearly explained to you I can say it is common practice and seems odd you would give a deposit and continue looking for other properties.
It also seems odd that anyone at the property management firm would respond to your complaint in a public forum with anything past a general statement that the firm is aware of the issue and working to find a solution equitable to both parties. Nothing good can come of debating the issue in an open forum where things can be misinterpreted.
Again, I was not in the room and have no real knowledge of what was or was not said.