Woman alleges used car seller manipulated deposit agreement to BC court
A sale of a used car that fell through landed in court after the potential buyer filed a claim to return the $500 deposit she paid to hold the vehicle.
Jane P Cuthbertson filed a claim with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal after alleging thatĀ Bobbie Garry Burns refused to return a refundable deposit on the 2006 Nissan X-Trail he was selling on Facebook.
Cuthbertson agreed to buy the vehicle after test driving it on July 13, 2023 and paid Burns a $500 deposit to hold it for four days while she contacted her mechanic to checkĀ a noise she heard during the test drive.
When she decided not to go through with the sale, her husband went to collect the holding deposit but was told it was non-refundable.
Cuthbertson told the court that she signed a handwritten note Burns had given her that stated the $500 was refundable if she decided not to buy the vehicle. She then alleged he altered the note by adding a “non” before the “refundable” after she signed the receipt.
Burns denied altering the note and instead said that the buyer was aware the holding deposit was non-refundable and willingly signed the handwritten receipt stating as such.
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Using a copy of the receipt, the court decided against the claim. It found that the spacing of the words did not indicate the “non” was squeezed in between the other words, “as one might expect had the receipt been altered as alleged.”
The court also decided against the claim based on the intentions behind the deposit.
The deposit was given to hold the vehicle for a period of time, with the intention of making it unavailable to others so Cuthbertson could proceed with the sale after consulting her mechanic. The court said this made it a true deposit.
A true deposit is a payment designed to motivate buyers to proceed with a purchase they previously agreed to. In cases of true deposits, a “buyer who refuses to purchase what they have bargained for generally forfeits the deposit, and the seller is not required to prove damages to keep it.”
Cuthbertson was determined to have forfeited her $500 deposit when she did not follow through on the sale, and her claim for the deposit refund was dismissed.
The court ordered Cuthbertson to pay Burns $25 in court fees.