Thread: Relisting

Our buyers backed out of our deal due to lack of financing options. They were renting our house (Addendum O signed for $70/day), and stayed there for 28 days before backing out. They had several missed closing opportunities, and we eventually had to kick them out. They refused to pay the rent & penalties they owed us (close to $3000), so we now have to take them to small claims court. Since we have signed contracts, etc, we don't see it going any other way than in our favor.

I have a couple of questions.

1.) We still have their $1000 earnest money. Can we keep that since they owe us $2000 more?
2.) Will/Can the judge allow us to keep it? I know earnest money is a grey area, and technically it still belongs to the buyer, but since they owe us more, we should be entitled to it. The buyers, it turns out, have several small claims judgment against them from payday loan stores, auto loans, and evictions, so we could make the argument that we can't expect them to pay us, given their past history.
3.) When can we relist? We live in Milwaukee, WI, but are moving to Missouri for medical school. We desperately need to sell the house, but since we cannot sign the mutual disclosure form (it releases them from any debt), how do we relist after the judgment (assuming it's in our favor)?

If we can't sell our house this year, it will put us in a terrible position, and may have to foreclose! We'd really like to avoid that, obviously.
Any info you can give us would be VERY helpful. Our agent is fairly new to this type of situation, and he is slow to get information from others so I figured I'd try other sources.
Any references to real estate code & legal statutes would be a good start for me to look it up myself too; I just don't know where to start!

I am a missouri realtor, my opinion is that you can keep the earnest money if the lease was somehow attached to the sale contract (i.e. an addendum, a possesion by buyer prior to closing, or a lease option contract). I am also guessing that the money is being held at a title company? if that is the case a title company is really a real estate law firm in disguise, so they should be able to help you. in either case, if your realtor isnt helping you, FIRE THEM. hire a flat fee listing company, that will allow you to drop your price by 3% without affecting your bottom line, and if you think are may be foreclosed on, come to missouri and buy your new house before your credit is affected by the foreclosure, if that doesnt happen, I will help you get a lease option place for yourself, so you can start building credit back up.

welcome to the forum, I hope you find my response helpful.