I had grown very close to him and had developed a great deal of trust for this person.

Well one thing that is interesting in regards to Earnest Money is that you take a place like Ohio, I'd imagine it's the same in Oregon but in Ohio the Division of Real Estate regulates the activities of real estate brokerages and their trust accounts but the Division of Insurance is who regulates title companies.

I agree with Erik, although their are some investors out there that will help fund the down payment/entry fees that you mention, they typically are friends and family that trust you and believe in you.

We work on the principle trust, but verify.

Now I feel I can not trust the screening results.

Naturally, I could go on their site but trust Bigger Pockets members more.

You have to disclose you are an agent and people statistically don't like or trust agents.  

Now, if the seller was free & clear (no mortgage) when he sold, the seller could enact whatever remedy was provided for in the Deed of Trust, if he was savvy enough to even do a Deed of Trust.

If you call Airbnb, you'll never actually get an answer you could trust on this. 

We asked for a new survey as we no longer trusted the lot markers we had been shown.