Today I am going to talk about something very unpleasant that occasionally happens in our business; Escrow Disputes.

Escrow Disputes happen when a sale falls apart and the buyer and the seller each want the deposit. This is one reason most Brokers don’t have an escrow account. Depending on who is holding the deposit, will determine how the escrow will be disbursed. No matter who is holding the deposit, the broker cannot release the deposit. If the broker is holding the deposit, the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) needs to be notified within 15 days of the dispute.

Then the broker has 30 days from the time of the dispute to tell the FREC how it will be cleared. Brokers have a choice. Mediation, Arbitration, Litigation, or Escrow Disbursement Order. These options are typically free or inexpensive. Now, if the Title Company or an Attorney is holding the funds, they are not subject to FREC rules. Typically, they resolve their issue through litigation. The prevailing party gets the escrow and the non-prevailing party pays for the litigation. Again, no matter who is holding the escrow, the broker’s hands are tied and cannot disburse the funds. This may make either or both the buyer, and the seller upset. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence and most sales end in successful completion and all are happy in the end!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.

See you next time!

You know, in Florida, we write the offer to purchase usually from the buyer, on a contract form.

That form is then signed by the buyer and sent to the seller. If the seller agrees with all the provisions in the offer, then they can sign it and send it back to the buyer. Now we have a contract!! In Florida Most closings are done by Title Companies and the buyers and sellers are not required to have attorneys fill out a contract.

So, sales associates help the buyers and sellers write the sale and purchase contract. We are allowed to fill in the blanks of Supreme Court Approved contracts. This means that we must be knowledgeable in the contract form that we use and understand that there might be special conditions that occur in different transactions. There are Riders that we can attach, written by attorneys that fit most residential situations.

However, we are never allowed to write any provisions effectively changing the contract. We have a clause for “additional terms” that should be used to explain provisions. If you listed pool equipment as personal property to convey, then here is where we can explain what is included in pool equipment. If there are special clauses needed for the contract it is our obligation to tell our customers to see an attorney!

If you would like more information contact me. 

I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.