If a house deal falls apart because the buyer can’t close and the seller then sells the property to someone else for more, who gets the deposit?

Here’s what can happen:

In early September 2003, Shankar Iyer and Bala Ramachandran agreed to pay $289,000 for a new home from Pleasant Developments Inc. They accompanied their offer with a $10,000 deposit and the builder accepted it on September 16. The buyers got cold feet and the next day changed their mind, asking for the return of the deposit.

The builder refused to return it and resold the house for $700 less than the original deal, but kept the deposit. The couple sued in Small Claims Court for the return of the deposit. When it came to the hearing, the question for the court was whether the builder could keep it all. The judge decided the builder could only keep $700 — the amount by which the sale was reduced — and was ordered to give the balance of $9,300 to the buyer.