Good evening Mr. Nesbitt, I placed an offer on a condo in December 30, 2008. I signed the contract on that day and gave a cashier's check to the seller's real estate agent in the amount of $750. I waited for the signed contract from the seller to come back to me, but a lot of time lapsed and a signed contract from the seller never came. I decided to pull out. On January 23, my agent sent in a statement, letting the seller know that I was pulling out and that I wanted my earnest money back. Several weeks later, the real estate agent said I had to sign a termination form to receive my earnest money. That was sent in on February 10, 2009. I still have not received my earnest money back. The seller's agent said they are waiting on the assets manager to release the funds. I have decided to take the agency to small claims court. I do not feel that best interest is being considered. Please give me some advice. Thanks.Firstly and mostly, let me start off by saying that real estate agents and brokers are not attorneys. I do not practice law and it is not my business to give you legal advice of any kind. However, I do have some experience in these type of matters and will comment as best as I can. Based upon your letter, I am assuming that you made an offer on a piece of property and you paid $750 in earnest money to the selling agent. The offer was not accepted but the selling agent has not promptly released your funds. I would recommend that you call the selling broker---not the selling agent. Brokers and the Commonwealth of Virginia take very serious the trust given us as escrow agents. The broker (not the agent) must release the money. Try to speak directly with the broker and explain what you have gone through. I am certain that the selling broker will act swiftly to return you money. If the broker does not respond with in a short but reasonable amount of time, the next level to contact would be the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. If that doesn't give satisfaction, the Commonwealth of Virginia's DPOR should be your next contact. If you are owed money, things will proceed quickly at this point. But you probably want to consult an attorney to verify that my advice will suit your specific case. Will Nesbitt
Prompt Return of Earnest Money
What follows is an email I recently received and my response.
Fetch is a pet store in Old Town Alexandria that sells gourmet doggy-treats and other high quality gourmet goodies. I thought it would be fun to take my dog Foxy on a field trip to Fetch and the bakery that makes these gourmet doggie biscuits.
Foxy was eager to leave 
So we jumped in the car and took her around the corner to Old Town Alexandria VA.
Once we were in Old Town, Foxy decided to read the doggie-newspaper. One can learn a lot from a green patch on a brick-sidewalk.
Then it was off to Fetch and to see Marion.
Foxy is Marion's adopted grandbaby. Marion always greets Foxy with a big hug and lots of kisses.Foxy loves the cookies at Fetch, but she was soon distracted ... she saw trouble coming.
Yep. Trouble at least that's what Foxy calls that adorable Jack Russell Terrier named Magnum. Magnum wanted to play, but Foxy didn't like sharing Marion's attention. Foxy's not on the man-hunt and had no interest in Magnum.
So we left town and headed to Beltsville, where they bake the Zanadu cookies sold in Fetch and Chateau Animaux.
The art work at the bakery was wonderful, but Foxy wanted to see where the action took place.
She toured the bakery and found that everything is human grade, made with great loving care. Here's the cookie cutter.
She grabbed a green tea and cookie and they put her to work, bagging and labelling cookies.
