We had put an offer on a condo in TX. The seller had accepted our offer but made a few changes to the original contract. We have not accepted their changes yet and we are not happy about the disclosures.
Under MN law we would be able to get our earnest money back with no problems based on the contract not being finalized/agreed upon by both parties. What about TX law?
Thank you for your advice.
Lana & Nick

If you made a written offer and the seller has changed any portion of it and you have not signed off on those changes you do not have a valid contract.

You have an offer from the seller which you are free to accept, reject, or make a counter offer back to.

If you do not accept you should get your earnest money check by any state's law including Texas.

First of all, you should have had access to disclosures before you wrote a contract. If the seller made changes to your contract that is a form of counter offer. Unless you agree to the changes, you have the right to get your money back. In my state, earnest money is not deposited until a contract is signed by both parties.

If all parties have not agreed AND signed or initialed all parts and changes to a contract, you have no contract. Why do you still not have your earnest money? Earnest money is usually (at least in Texas) not given to the title company until there is a valid EM contract.

Thank you for all the replies. We have cancelled our contract with the seller and our real estate agent said that she has the earnest money check. Since we still would like to buy a condo in TX (not the one that we put in an offer for), she suggested that she would hold on to our check. Do you think I should let her or should I get it back?
Thank you

Is the check currently blank or was it already made out to the seller's preferred title company? If it's blank, it depends on your level of trust and whether the agent won't misplace it.

The check is made out to the Title Company.

What's the big deal? Get the check back. You can always write another one if you make another offer. I would rather get it than worry about it.

If you made the check to the Title Company, get that check from your agent. Since your bank wrote the check, the bank will put it back in your account, voiding the check. (I assume that this is a certified check.) When you find another home, write another check.
Good luck!

Why would you assume it was a certified check???

Curious

In my area, buyers are required to submit a certified check, payable to the Listing Agency. We hold the monies in an escrow account.