Before conditions are removed
During the condition period the buyer generally has a contractual route out. If a condition is not satisfied or waived by its deadline, the contract typically ends and the deposit is ordinarily returned. That is what conditions are for, and it is not a breach.
Frustrating, but not a dispute. Your home returns to market and you continue.
After conditions are removed
This is different. Once conditions are waived the contract is firm, and a buyer who does not complete is in breach. The seller is not simply left without recourse.
What follows depends on the contract and the circumstances, but broadly a seller may look to the deposit, and may have claims beyond it — for example if the home ultimately sells for less, plus costs incurred in the interim. Pursuing anything beyond the deposit is a legal matter, and this is the point to involve a lawyer rather than rely on general information.
What happens to the deposit?
Deposits on Alberta residential transactions are ordinarily held in trust by a brokerage rather than by either party, which is a protection for both sides. It also means neither party can simply take it.
Where both agree on what should happen, the funds are released accordingly. Where they disagree, the brokerage cannot take sides — it holds the deposit until it has agreement from both, or a court direction. That can take time, which is one reason disputes over deposits are usually worth resolving commercially where possible.
The practical lesson: deposit size matters when you are choosing between offers. It is the part of a buyer's promise that has money behind it.
What to do practically
- Get advice early. The first days matter, both for options and for your obligation to limit your own losses.
- Document everything — communications, dates, and any costs you incur as a result.
- Get the home back on the market thoughtfully. Buyers will ask why it returned; a clear, honest answer is far better than a vague one.
- Do not assume the worst about the next buyer. Most transactions complete. One failure is not a pattern.
None of this is legal advice, and the answer for your situation depends on your contract. It is a conversation for your lawyer, and we will work alongside them.
The other ways a deal falls apart
A buyer walking away is the version sellers worry about. It is not the most common one.
- Financing that was never final. A pre-approval assesses the buyer; final approval assesses the property as well. An appraisal shortfall, an unpermitted suite, or a lender's view of a particular condo corporation can all end an approval that looked solid. Why an appraisal comes in low.
- Insurance declined. Poly-B, older wiring or claim history can make a home difficult to insure, and no insurance means no mortgage advance.
- Condo documents. A looming special assessment or a reserve fund well behind its study ends more condo deals than anything a buyer sees at the showing.
- A title or Real Property Report problem surfacing at the lawyer's office — an encroachment, a missing compliance stamp, an old caveat. What an RPR is and who provides it.
- The buyer's own sale collapsing, where their purchase depended on it.
- Nobody signing anything. A condition left unwaived at its deadline can end a deal both sides wanted. Missing a condition deadline.
Almost all of these are visible days before they happen. That is the argument for a listing side that stays in contact with the buyer's side through the condition period rather than waiting to see whether a waiver arrives.