Hi, I have resonantly sold my small houseboat that fits on a trailer privately. The lady came & inspected it & wanted to buy it. She sent me a deposit of $4000 but now a week later I am having trouble getting her to reply. I have tried to organize a time for them to pick it up & have even offered storage for it for 5/6 weeks. She still hasn't paid the full amount so was just wondering what the rules are for how long I have to keep the boat for her if I don't receive the full amount or they dont pick it up. I am trying to be nice about it but not getting much info from them.
So what is the point of a deposit, I have lost the chance of selling it to other people. What am I suppose to do if she doesn't make contact with me in the next 6 weeks. And what if I have already spent the $4000. There must be a point when I can put it back up for sale again. I am still confident that it will all get sorted in the next few weeks but was just curious what happens if it doesn't.
There is no "point" in the way you mean.
Either you sold her the boat, and she has not yet finished paying for it, or
you sold her the right to decide later whether or not to buy the boat (an "option").
Which was it?
Maybe, maybe not.
Presume the deal to have been abandoned.
Then prepare yourself to return it from your other funds.
Well, people don't get to just abandon deals willy-nilly.
In theory, if all reasonable follow up attempts fail, then you could get a court order that requires her to complete the transaction (lawyers call this "specific performance of the contract").
In general terms, 5-6 weeks, with reasonable efforts on your part during that time, seems "reasonable in all the circumstances"...
(let's be clear - no way do you get to keep the $4000...)
This goes one of two ways... either she pays you, eventually, or
she wants out of the deal.
In the former, problem solved, in the end.
In the latter, you could go for specific performance, or,
in a choice that is more sensible and more practical,
you give her back the $4000, and make it all be over.
I partly disagree with Tim 
re: Hall v Burnell [1911] 2 Ch 551
The deposit can be kept in some circumstances, depending on terms of the sale, the size of deposit in relation to the total price, and how you acted in trying to keep the sale contract 'alive'. You may be able to claim termination for breach of contract.
Deposits greater than 10% will be hard to hold on to, and actions to cancel the contract the week after receiving the deposit will likely be seen as unreasonable.
Get some legal advice for your circumstances.
re: Hall v Burnell [1911] 2 Ch 551
The deposit can be kept in some circumstances, depending on terms of the sale, the size of deposit in relation to the total price, and how you acted in trying to keep the sale contract 'alive'. You may be able to claim termination for breach of contract.
Deposits greater than 10% will be hard to hold on to, and actions to cancel the contract the week after receiving the deposit will likely be seen as unreasonable.
Get some legal advice for your circumstances.
Although we don't know if it's applicable to this case,
this question usually comes up in circumstances
where the seller has already spent part of the deposit,
and is now concerned in case they have to refund it
to the would-have-been-buyer.
Hold that thought.
Now, while it is theoretically possible to argue
that there may be a technical legal basis for keeping the deposit,
the client-centred perspective here may be something more like
"What is it going to take to make this be over,
to get this troublesome person out of my life,
and free me up to sell the boat to someone else?"
To which the answers may well be...
1. Give them back the money, call it all off, and let them go on their way
(in the language of contract law - elect to accept a repudiatory breach).
One issue with this option can sometimes be that the seller has already spent part (or all) of the deposit.
A further issue with this option is that the seller cannot always get past the resentment and frustration they feel at letting someone "get away with it" and giving the money back.
These feelings are not really something where lawyers can help much.
Except to remind the client of the bit about making this all be over; or
2. Take them to court over either an unpaid debt, or in a breach of contract action
The issue with this option can be that the first question the court will ask is... Is there even a contract?
That's the basis of my bit above where I say
"Well, what loss have you suffered that keeping the $4000 would remedy?"
To which your answer (so far as we know from what we have here is... "Well, actually nothing.").
Then there could be a question something like...
"Why, in all the circumstances, was elected recission was not acceptable to the plaintiff?"
Given that, as far as we can tell from what we have, you can't demonstrate loss beyond mere inconvenience*
the answer is again "Well, actually, ummm.... errr... "
At which point, you are ordered to return the $4000, and you might even get to pay the other parties costs as well as your own.
-----------------------------------------------------
* You have not shown us here that you have lost any money.
Unrealised, unspecified, speculative, capital gain from a sale to someone else, but that didn't actually happen
is not a compensable loss.
this question usually comes up in circumstances
where the seller has already spent part of the deposit,
and is now concerned in case they have to refund it
to the would-have-been-buyer.
Hold that thought.
Now, while it is theoretically possible to argue
that there may be a technical legal basis for keeping the deposit,
the client-centred perspective here may be something more like
"What is it going to take to make this be over,
to get this troublesome person out of my life,
and free me up to sell the boat to someone else?"
To which the answers may well be...
1. Give them back the money, call it all off, and let them go on their way
(in the language of contract law - elect to accept a repudiatory breach).
One issue with this option can sometimes be that the seller has already spent part (or all) of the deposit.
A further issue with this option is that the seller cannot always get past the resentment and frustration they feel at letting someone "get away with it" and giving the money back.
These feelings are not really something where lawyers can help much.
Except to remind the client of the bit about making this all be over; or
2. Take them to court over either an unpaid debt, or in a breach of contract action
The issue with this option can be that the first question the court will ask is... Is there even a contract?
That's the basis of my bit above where I say
The next question could then be something like
"Well, what loss have you suffered that keeping the $4000 would remedy?"
To which your answer (so far as we know from what we have here is... "Well, actually nothing.").
Then there could be a question something like...
"Why, in all the circumstances, was elected recission was not acceptable to the plaintiff?"
Given that, as far as we can tell from what we have, you can't demonstrate loss beyond mere inconvenience*
the answer is again "Well, actually, ummm.... errr... "
At which point, you are ordered to return the $4000, and you might even get to pay the other parties costs as well as your own.
-----------------------------------------------------
* You have not shown us here that you have lost any money.
Unrealised, unspecified, speculative, capital gain from a sale to someone else, but that didn't actually happen
is not a compensable loss.
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3. Hold onto the deposit and wait to see if the other side takes you to court.
My personal opinion is if you have suffered no losses, hand the money back. It is the right thing to do. If she has stuffed you around, then maybe hold onto a couple of hundred for the aggravation and emotional distress of dealing with an unreasonable person. NB: There is little basis for claiming aggravation and emotional distress in pure contract cases.
.
3. Hold onto the deposit and wait to see if the other side takes you to court.
My personal opinion is if you have suffered no losses, hand the money back. It is the right thing to do. If she has stuffed you around, then maybe hold onto a couple of hundred for the aggravation and emotional distress of dealing with an unreasonable person. NB: There is little basis for claiming aggravation and emotional distress in pure contract cases.
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