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msteve88 · Jul 25, 2010, 10:06 AM

We put up a vehicle for sale by owner, we had someone interested and came to inspect the vehicle. He liked the car, made the offer and we accepted and he made a down payment of $1000.00 and said he would be back to pickup the car in 3-4 days. It's been 6 days and he still hasn't come, is his deposit refundable? How long should we give him before taking new offers on the car?

ScottGem · Jul 25, 2010, 10:27 AM

If the receipt did not say non-refundable then it is.

What I would do is send the buyer a letter stating that he has x days to come pick up the car otherwise you put the car back up for sale. I would also state that if he doesn't come by that debt, you will consider his deposit forfeit. But frankly, depending on the sale price I would not keep more than 5% of the sales price in this instance. I would then refund the balance.

msteve88 · Jul 25, 2010, 11:50 AM

Thanks

Fr_Chuck · Jul 25, 2010, 12:07 PM

Yes, the refundable all depends on your written or verbal agreement. For other readers, it is always a good idea to be very specific, and be in writing, as to at what date they had to pick it up by and terms of the agreement

excon · Jul 25, 2010, 12:14 PM

Hello mr:

I disagree with my friends. I believe you had a contract. He gave you a deposit so that you would take the car off the market for 3 or 4 days. You did. In fact, you waited 6 days.

I'd write a letter like Scott said. Only your letter should tell him that his deposit is forfeit because he did not fulfill his agreement. Send your letter certified, return receipt requested. Then sell the car and keep the money.

excon

ScottGem · Jul 25, 2010, 01:56 PM

I don't disagree with excon, but I'm thinking of what a court would do. Since this would go through small claims court, I think the court would use a reasonableness factor. So what I think you happen is the court would look at the amount of time the car was not on the market, it would look at the amount of the deposit in respect to the total sales price and it would look at how long it took to sell the car afterwards and finally, it would look at whether you turned down any offers during the time you took it off the market.

It would then determine a fair compensation for the time you had it off the market. I think that compensation would be between 5 and 10% of the sales price.