Assignee's EMD Deposits - Refundable or Non-refundable?

[Alison M.]

Hi all, I'm wondering today how you, as a wholesaler-assignor, deal with the EMD coming from your end buyer/assignee. Many local wholesaler/assignors I know stipulate that the EMD from the assignee is non-refundable. At the same time, a casual perusal of forum posts here shows that many buyer/assignees say that they would not pay a non-refundable deposit.

I have done it both ways, and find when I state that the assignee's EMD is non-refundable I get a lot of push-back. My position is that it is my opportunity cost - if the assignee doesn't perform I have lost my opportunity to do the deal with another buyer.

Would appreciate everyone's thoughts on how you handle EMDs. Do you make them refundable, or non-refundable? My EMDs are usually in the $2500-$5000 range, depending on the price of the property.

Thanks, Alison