Ask Our Broker With Peter G. Miller
By Peter G. Miller
CTW Features
Question: We now expect our closing to be delayed. Do the sellers have the right to cancel the transaction if we miss the closing date? Can they keep our deposit?
Answer: As a buyer, you may have a loan lock-in that ends by a given date, which can be lost with a late settlement. Buyers and sellers may have hired moving vans. The closing agent has calculated various costs to the day. If closing is delayed, there can be a lot of irritation and cost.
Licensed brokers handle most real estate sales in the U.S. Most brokers – but not all – belong to a local professional association. The local associations have attorneys that create a variety of standardized form agreements for members designed specifically for a given jurisdiction. Those are the sale agreements member brokers use for transactions.
What this means is the language in sale agreement forms can vary by jurisdiction, including the language related to settlement.
So, the first thing you have to determine is whether you are “late” according to the terms of the agreement. Some agreements say closing will be held on a certain date. Others are more flexible and talk about settlement on or before a given date. Some make allowances so closing automatically will be delayed if settlement falls on a weekend or federal holiday. Agreements also may provide that if closing does not occur by a certain date, the seller will be able to keep the buyer’s deposit and possibly take other actions.
In practice, a more likely approach is that settlement dates can be modified if both parties agree, which brings up the issue of mutual interests.
Some transactions are like war where buyers and sellers battle for every penny and see everything done or said by the other side as an affront or insult. Such combat sales don’t leave a lot of room for compromise.
The goal of buyers and sellers in most cases is to complete the transaction. The National Association of Realtors reports that 29 percent of all sales are postponed, which means that settled buyers and sellers need to work cooperatively and understand that a home sale is a big transaction with a lot of complications. Sometimes, even though both parties work in good faith, there are delays.
If you feel closing might be delayed, immediately get advice from your broker or attorney. The odds are that with a little compromise – and by keeping the sellers informed – everything will work out just fine.
© CTW Features
Peter G. Miller is author of “The Common-Sense Mortgage,” (Kindle 2016). Have a question? Please write to [email protected].

