and take it to my title company. I assured Ricardo that I would fax the contract to the title company as soon as possible. This looked like a done deal and I was happy. NOT SO FAST The next morning I received a call from the title company. Ricardo had indeed taken the $5,000 earnest money check to the title company the day before. But he was on his way back in to pick it up. My title agent said there was nothing she could do but refund the money because she didn’t have a contract. How could I have forgotten to fax it in ? What a stupid move ! And I wasn’t anywhere near my paperwork to grab it and fax it to her. I couldn’t do anything but call Ricardo to try to find out what the problem was. I called Ricardo and asked him why he was trying to pick up the earnest money. He told me that he had talked to someone that morning who informed him that the commercial building was once a gas station with underground tanks and possible contamination. I couldn’t believe this was true. The commercial building had most recently been a dental clinic. “Do you think it would have been able to operate as a dental clinic if it sat on top of a toxic gas tank?” I asked. He didn’t care to listen. He was intent on going to the title company to pick up his earnest money check and there was nothing I could do. I tried some more to convince him but I soon realized that there was nothing I could do to change his mind. I had no one to blame but myself. If I had only faxed the contract to the title company when I was supposed to… I must honestly say that losing this deal almost broke my spirits, but I knew I had to carry on.
36