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Homeowner's Illegal Status Exposed After Aborted Sale
FoxNews ^ | November 17, 2008 | Staff Writer

Posted on 11/17/2008 7:07:14 AM PST by Tennessee Nana

ROSWELL, Ga. — Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.

Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house in this Atlanta suburb, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter's name and Social Security number on the title.

And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside "regular" citizens.

Nicole Griffin's mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested.

A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.

As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job.

"I'm very sad and very worried," said Jimenez, 32. "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: aliens; crime; georgia; illegalimmigration; immigrantlist; immigration; sobstory
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BARF ALERT in Georgia
1 posted on 11/17/2008 7:07:14 AM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: 1COUNTER-MORTER-68; 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten; 3AngelaD; alice_in_bubbaland; aligncare; AliVeritas; ...

PING


2 posted on 11/17/2008 7:08:54 AM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana

He was a scammer and the “single mother of two” was also a scammer.


3 posted on 11/17/2008 7:10:33 AM PST by ikka (Brother, you asked for it!)
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To: Tennessee Nana

All things being equal, I think I’d rather have the illegal immigrants for neighbors, if it were me.


4 posted on 11/17/2008 7:13:37 AM PST by Tax-chick ("I thank Thee, dear Jesus, that Thy will and not mine has been done." ~St. Frances Cabrini)
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To: Tennessee Nana
A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.

Putting everything else aside, someone's immigration status is irrelevant when it comes to enforcing a contract. A contract entered into by an illegal can be enforced by, and against, the illegal.

5 posted on 11/17/2008 7:13:37 AM PST by Citizen Blade (What would Ronald Reagan do?)
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To: Tennessee Nana
"I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know."

You are going back to your extended family in your home country. That is what is going to happen.

6 posted on 11/17/2008 7:13:58 AM PST by mlocher (USA is a sovereign nation)
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To: ikka

What he did was illegal and what she did was tacky and dangerous.


7 posted on 11/17/2008 7:14:13 AM PST by Vindibudd
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To: Tennessee Nana
Jimenez has taken the house off the market but doesn't want to move his family back in amid the uncertainty, so they're still in the apartment that was supposed to be a transitional stop until they bought a bigger place.

...

Down the street, the Jimenez house sits empty.

So how is this out-of-work illegal immigrant, with lots of legal bills, able to afford to continue paying a (fradulent) mortgage on a $165K home, AND pay rent on an apartment????

8 posted on 11/17/2008 7:15:06 AM PST by VRWCmember
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To: Tennessee Nana
But the ambitions of citizens and non-citizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims.

My pity meter for Jimenez is about -10 and it's 0 for Griffin.

9 posted on 11/17/2008 7:16:25 AM PST by econjack (Some people are as dumb as soup.)
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To: Tennessee Nana
Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house in this Atlanta suburb

EARTH TO FOX NEWS, THIS GUY AIN'T AN AMERICAN, THUS CANNOT HAVE THE AMERICAN DREAM. HE HAS THE MEXICAN DREAM OF SNEAKING INTO THE USA AND GETTING THE SAME BENEFITS THAT TAX PAYING AMERICANS GET!

10 posted on 11/17/2008 7:16:39 AM PST by RetiredArmy (America is entering four very long and cold years. First victim: liberty)
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To: Citizen Blade
Putting everything else aside, someone's immigration status is irrelevant when it comes to enforcing a contract. A contract entered into by an illegal can be enforced by, and against, the illegal.

The reason the contract began to go sour was because of the fradulent title and mortgage (in the name of his two-year-old daughter) preventing closing the contract.

11 posted on 11/17/2008 7:16:46 AM PST by VRWCmember
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To: Tennessee Nana

>>>>>”I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about my family. What’s going to happen? I don’t know.”<<<<<<

He’s apparently been in the USA long enough to know how to play the sob-story victim routine.

Doesn’t that qualify him for amnesty and citizenship?


12 posted on 11/17/2008 7:19:08 AM PST by angkor (Conservatism is not a religious movement.)
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To: Tennessee Nana
Griffin ... has no regrets. "At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all," she said. .... Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general's office and the governor's office, among others. She asked her congressman, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price's office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman.

"I am a law-abiding American merely trying to purchase a home," Griffin wrote in mid-July in a letter to American Homebuyers, a nonprofit that helps low- to moderate-income families buy homes. "An illegal family fraudulently obtained a mortgage using a 1 yr old SSN, and appear to have all the rights in this situation — How can this be when they shouldn't even be in America?"

You go girl. Give this illegal HELL!
13 posted on 11/17/2008 7:20:24 AM PST by Condor51 (Obama believes in Karl Marx. I believe in Sun Tzu.)
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To: Citizen Blade

.................and foreign nationals can buy property in the US.


14 posted on 11/17/2008 7:20:44 AM PST by nufsed
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To: Tennessee Nana
Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.

And yet he chose to commit 17 different acts of Fraud anyway.

'Ef him. Indict him, try him, convict him, incarcerate him, and then deport him.

L

15 posted on 11/17/2008 7:22:25 AM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: Tennessee Nana
What's going to happen? I don't know."

Adios, amigo!

16 posted on 11/17/2008 7:23:24 AM PST by nufsed
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To: Tennessee Nana

“He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter’s name and Social Security number on the title.”

Doesn’t leveraging their anchor-baby to cloak his illegal status make everything all right?


17 posted on 11/17/2008 7:26:05 AM PST by tumblindice (I hope someday to be the man my dog thought I was.)
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To: tumblindice

Deport him now.


18 posted on 11/17/2008 7:33:00 AM PST by jocko12
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To: econjack

“My pity meter for Jimenez is about -10 and it’s 0 for Griffin.”

The buyer probably lost all their ernest money.

She puts down ernest money in good faith.
The purchase goes sour because the title is fradulent.
She can’t get her ernest money back.

I think I’d be more than ticked off at that point also. She probably didn’t find out the seller was an illegal immigrant until she found out the title was bad.


19 posted on 11/17/2008 7:35:32 AM PST by Brookhaven (The Fair Tax is THE economic litmus test for conservatives)
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To: Tennessee Nana
This country is so broken, it really can't be fixed. Time to strip it for parts and try to build a new one.

20 posted on 11/17/2008 7:37:38 AM PST by aWolverine
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To: Brookhaven
She puts down ernest money in good faith. The purchase goes sour because the title is fradulent. She can’t get her ernest money back.

That would qualify as a seller default. She would get her earnest money back in that situation because the failure to close was the fault of the seller.

21 posted on 11/17/2008 7:38:23 AM PST by Citizen Blade (What would Ronald Reagan do?)
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To: VRWCmember; Tennessee Nana
......how is this out-of-work illegal immigrant able to (1) pay a (fradulent) mortgage on a $165K home, (2) rent an apartment, (3) pay mounting legal bills, (4) gas up and maintain a car, (5) pay day-to-day expenses, (6) feed and clothe a family???? .............

Mr and Mrs probably have multiple stolen illegal identities and are riding the US gravy train, subsidized by US taxpayers.....welfare, food stamps, EITC refunds, etc, etc, etc.

Might also be pocketing multiple UI and Workman's Comp checks, SS# retirement checks under several stolen names.

Another huge fraud is latinos getting SSI checks with faked injuries.

Another common practice among illegals is getting their kids to fake ADD to collect SSI checks.

Could also be using stolen credit/debit cards.

22 posted on 11/17/2008 7:40:38 AM PST by Liz (The right to be left alone is the beginning of freedom. USSC Justice William O. Douglas)
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To: Lurker
Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time. And yet he chose to commit 17 different acts of Fraud anyway. 'Ef him. Indict him, try him, convict him, incarcerate him, and then deport him.

Those sorts of "air raiding Hispanic babies in the dark of night" actions only happen in La Raza/Obama/McCain speeches. In reality, you as an American are far more likely to lose your home to a slip-and-fall lawyer working for an illegal alien than the illegal alien is of being deported.
23 posted on 11/17/2008 7:43:18 AM PST by aWolverine
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To: Citizen Blade

She may have the RIGHT to get it back, but getting it back may be another story. Ernest money isn’t kept in escroe. If the seller has spent it, she may have a hard time getting it back.


24 posted on 11/17/2008 7:49:47 AM PST by Brookhaven (The Fair Tax is THE economic litmus test for conservatives)
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To: Tennessee Nana
Latino mortgage frauds are notorious. ACORN represented by Barack Obama sued---and threatened---banks into loaning to marginal people. In some cases, food stamps were used as an income gauge.

Illegals are never asked for proofs---pay stubs, SS numbers, citizenship, etc. As long as they have a pulse and can write the name of one of their phony identities, they get a loan.

Many illegals are scam artists----flipping the home back and forth among their immigrant families at higher and higher mortgages, duping banks at every turn. When they were done looting, the last "homeowner" defaults and absconds to Mexico with $tens of thousands in cash.........leaving banks (and taxpayers) holding the bag.

REMEMBER---this is ONE house with SEVERAL toxic mortgages.

Screwing banks and US taxpayers must get lotsa laughs over tequila shots in downtown Tijuana. JEST GOIN' OVER DA BORDER FOR A "BETTER LIFE."

DUH.

25 posted on 11/17/2008 7:50:02 AM PST by Liz (The right to be left alone is the beginning of freedom. USSC Justice William O. Douglas)
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To: Brookhaven

I’m not a lawyer or real estate agent, but I don’t think that’s the way earnest money works.

If the seller’s mortgage and title is not valid, the buyer gets her money back. She only loses it if SHE backs out.


26 posted on 11/17/2008 7:50:08 AM PST by Sherman Logan (Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.)
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To: Tennessee Nana

And can we finally, at LONG last bury this silly notion that FOX is the CONSERVATIVE news network!! Hearts there have lost so much blood that Oreilly will be able to swim home. There are no conservative networks, as was made quite clear during the Hussein coronation process.


27 posted on 11/17/2008 7:50:58 AM PST by Oldpuppymax (AGENDA OF THE LEFT EXPOSED)
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To: Tennessee Nana

I think he should have focused on gaining citizenship or at least legal residence before buying a house. Misplaced priorities.


28 posted on 11/17/2008 7:53:15 AM PST by rightwinggoth
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To: Tennessee Nana
there's one other cost of illegals that has gone generally unnoticed. Calling the Old Media: Five Million Illegals Have Illegal Mortgages in U.S.A.!

MALKIN: Illegal immigrant factor

Once again its helpful to provide some maps and stats: Look at the map where those who owe more than the house is worth. Notice any similarities to the unemployment picture and concentrations of illegals

Sadly Illegal Immigrants To Get Next Bailout 48% of the bad mortgages came from hispanics. there are no published numbers on the number of bad mortgages held by illegals. however, you can see from the numbers above that its not unlikely that roughly half the hispanics were illegal. That would give you about 25% of the bad mortgages came from illegals.
29 posted on 11/17/2008 7:53:52 AM PST by ckilmer (Phi)
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To: Tennessee Nana
I smell a "victim" lawsuit here.

The whining latino appears to be well-coached....probably by Third World gov'ts salivating to get their hands in US foreign aid by wielding hyphenated voting blocs.

=============================

Across the nation, pro-immigration has emerged as the third rail of American politics. Numbers USA's analysis of House results finds no Democrats ran on immigration issues (including Pres-elect Obama). Three elected Democrats ran on very strong pro-enforcement, anti-illegal platforms, and four more appear to be much more hawkish than those they replace.

Americans are tired of being drained dry, having their pockets picked to support criminals violating our borders, immigrants riding the US gravy train using multiple identities, transferring massive amounts of US wealth to the Third World, absconding from their bills to live in luxury on US taxpayers.

30 posted on 11/17/2008 7:56:12 AM PST by Liz (The right to be left alone is the beginning of freedom. USSC Justice William O. Douglas)
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To: Brookhaven
She may have the RIGHT to get it back, but getting it back may be another story. Ernest money isn’t kept in escroe. If the seller has spent it, she may have a hard time getting it back.

I've seen very few real estate deals where the earnest money was delivered directly to the seller and not kept in escrow. I'd be surprised if this woman agreed to give this guy the money directly- that seems very foolish.

31 posted on 11/17/2008 8:00:33 AM PST by Citizen Blade (What would Ronald Reagan do?)
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To: Brookhaven
Ernest money isn’t kept in escroe.

It is unless the buyer is an idiot.

32 posted on 11/17/2008 8:00:46 AM PST by Sherman Logan (Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.)
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To: VRWCmember

Why is it fraudulent to put the title in his daughters name? That isn’t why the deal went sour. It doesn’t say why the deal went sour. That being said I would want to live down the street from Griffen. She keeps the knives handy for stabbing in the back.


33 posted on 11/17/2008 8:11:12 AM PST by mombrown1 (PA Coordinatior SAS The Second Amendment is the reset button for the Constitution)
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To: Tennessee Nana
A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.

Looks like she's aiming to get him deported; the house goes into foreclosure and she can pick it up cheap at auction.

Nice, she kills two birds with one stone. Gets rid of an illegal and makes a killing in capitalism.

34 posted on 11/17/2008 8:11:56 AM PST by Centurion2000 (To protect and defend ... against all enemies, foreign and domestic .... by any means necessary.)
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To: Condor51

She knew he was illegal - her children played with his - so why did she wait so long to report him? Not that I think he was right - just that she waited until it was to her advantage. Had he not decided to sell she would probably have never reported him. Sounds like she didn’t get the house either.


35 posted on 11/17/2008 8:26:09 AM PST by mombrown1 (PA Coordinatior SAS The Second Amendment is the reset button for the Constitution)
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To: Brookhaven

Bet she did not loose her earnest money! Most contracts are contingent upon seller conveying clear title, abd they further go on to offer remedies....


36 posted on 11/17/2008 8:26:39 AM PST by DooDahhhh (AMEN)
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To: Brookhaven

Most states have strict escrow laws and that is where the earnest money goes. The gotcha on that is that both buyer and seller have to sign the release in order to give it back to the buyer. Had that happen once, where a seller refused to sign off on it.


37 posted on 11/17/2008 8:29:56 AM PST by DooDahhhh (AMEN)
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To: Tennessee Nana

“I’m very sad and very worried,” said Jimenez, 32. “I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about my family. What’s going to happen? I don’t know.”

Should’ve thought about that BEFORE subjecting them to the trouble. But, no worries. After Jan 20, it’s all good. You’ll be honored as a brave, enterprising undocumented-American.


38 posted on 11/17/2008 8:30:01 AM PST by ScottinVA (Gloucester County, VA -- Standing for America! 63% for McCain-Palin on 4 Nov)
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To: Tennessee Nana
"I'm very sad and very worried," said Jimenez, 32. "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know."

Tiny violin please. Did he ever think of taking his wonderful family and moving home with them.

39 posted on 11/17/2008 8:32:04 AM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
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To: angkor

....He’s apparently been in the USA long enough to know how to play the sob-story victim routine.......

Or more likely, the reporter just made it up


40 posted on 11/17/2008 8:34:17 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Save America......... put out lots of waferin)
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To: nufsed

Americans or illegals are not allowed to buy property in Mexico or even protest


41 posted on 11/17/2008 8:36:00 AM PST by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: bdfromlv

and..................


42 posted on 11/17/2008 8:36:47 AM PST by nufsed
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To: mombrown1
*** She knew he was illegal - her children played with his...***

I read the entire article, a couple of times. And yes, the kids played together but from the way I read it she only found he was an illegal when the sale fell through as the Deed info came out.

43 posted on 11/17/2008 8:37:04 AM PST by Condor51 (Obama believes in Karl Marx. I believe in Sun Tzu.)
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To: mombrown1
Why is it fraudulent to put the title in his daughters name?

What kind of meds are you on, you need to be of legal age to sign a legal contract. Doing so otherwise is fraud and signing the little kids name if forgery. DUH!!!!

44 posted on 11/17/2008 8:38:13 AM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
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To: bert
This type of victimology language is well known amongst the illegals.

Also, they can go into any activist organization office and they'll coach them to beat the system.

45 posted on 11/17/2008 8:39:04 AM PST by nufsed
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To: org.whodat

A title is a contract? Are you sure?


46 posted on 11/17/2008 8:43:46 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: mombrown1

Obama s kids went to school with bill ayers and lived in the same neighborhood and he didnt know bill was a terrorist. i am sure the mexican told his kids to let everyone know he was illegal.


47 posted on 11/17/2008 8:44:01 AM PST by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: trisham
A title is a contract? Are you sure?

The person used the wrong word, I did not want to correct them. In a few states they call deeds title's. You can deed property to anyone you want if it is free and clear of liens. But in this case the person had bought property and got a loan. Which means someone has to sign a loan agreement and a promissory note. I was paid at one time to teach people this stuff. You get it for free.

48 posted on 11/17/2008 8:51:09 AM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
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To: nufsed

why should they be alloed to here?


49 posted on 11/17/2008 8:55:10 AM PST by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: Sherman Logan
If the seller’s mortgage and title is not valid, the buyer gets her money back. She only loses it if SHE backs out.

I have been in real estate deals where the buyer backed out for no good reason. Two weeks after offer was made and accepted by both parties, they claimed both their jobs were "shaky", but had no proof of any change in employment status. Their jobs were exactly the same as before the offer, they qualified for mortgage, they just had buyer's remorse. They got their entire deposit back. As a practical matter, they get their money back by threatening to go along with completing the sale, and finding yet another last-minute excuse, causing even more delay for the seller. I was outraged, but decided to just move on and find another buyer.

I have never seen a deal where earnest money went to the seller. I goes to the listing brokerage, not even the listing agent. Usually it does go into escrow, sometimes it is just held by the brokerage, which presumably has deep enough pockets to have to cough it up in the event of a lawsuit.

50 posted on 11/17/2008 8:57:01 AM PST by CurlyDave
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