All Forum Posts by: Joe M.

Well Scott in the purchase agreement it is decided upon whether any dispute between buyer and seller will have a final say in arbitration or be able to take it to court. If it is taken to arbitration or court, they will go strictly according to the contract so if the buyer defaulted yes he would lose the deposit. I rarely like signing away any rights for any reason or idea however I think that signing for arbitration as the final say in these matter is best for everyone really. It's faster, cheaper and usually pretty much the same decision. As far as the escrow company, they only follow the instructions in the agreement and they can release no funds until both buyer and seller agree. Escrow is not something that takes sides, it is a very nuetral thing that is a benefit for both the buyer and seller and can only do what it is told, it can't act.

very nicely said

The only thing though Matt is that if it is an REO property then the banks will not accept that box being checked because as I said people could in theory drag an escrow out for a long time. Not likely it would go through otherwise either unless the selling agent misses it. Your best bet would be to write in a higher amount of days than the set 17 days that it has on the purchase agreement. However, in now days market especially in the market we are in which is the same, there are so many bids on homes because there is a lack of inventory that they will look to someone who would not look to drag out an escrow. Also, someone said that you would lose the money if you did not close. The thing is if your loan falls through and you try to get alternate financing then the seller has no obligation to cooperate and if your contingencies are taken away at that point then you in theory could still be screwed even if you were able to secure a different kind of loan.

If you have your purchase agreement handy which you should. Then look in the area of H3 which should be like the 3rd or 4th page. Under this it says Loan Contingency Removal. It says you have 17 days to remove the contingencies or cancel the agreement. If you remove the contingencies and you don't get the loan then yes you lose your deposit because at the time you remove it, the deposit becomes liquidated damages. There is a box under this that could be checked that says "the loan contingency shall remain in effect until the designated loans are funded". Since you removed the contingencies I'm sure the box was not checked. Agents usually check it by default when doing a purchase agreement in case the selling agent does not catch it. The reason they give 17 days is that it is sufficient enough time albeit barely and because people tend to by nature procrastinate and could and would hold up a closing for months.