How was it accepted, verbally or in writing? Verbal agreements are not legal in real estate transactions. If they accepted in writing and are now trying to back out, that is a whole 'nuther matter. You would need to talk to a local real estate attorney.

If it was verbal and they are now backing out, what they are doing seems unethical to me, unless the mistake was on the part of the Realtor, not the bank. If so, she should own up to it.

The whole thing seems strange to me. A bank would probably counter offer rather then just rejecting your bid over a difference of $5,000. My son bought a bank owned property and they were able to come to terms on price pretty easily. If you had a written offer accepted in writing, then call a real estate attorney.

We were expecting the contract to come in yesterday or today at the latest (48 hours).

It sounds to me as if the acceptance was not in writing, since the OP does not have a contract yet.

Our realtor received an Offer acceptance from the bank's realtor (via FAX or email, I'm not sure).

We were waiting for the Purchase Contract. We were told that the seller has 48 hours to get the Purchase Contract to us after accepting our offer. Then we would have 48 hours to sign, return the Purchase Contract with a check. (The Purchase Contract is different then an Offer Agreement.)

We would then have 5 days to get an inspection.

The seller's (bank's) realtor is blaming someone at the bank for overstepping his authority and accepting our offer.

ML

If you want the house, consult an attorney;
if the bank's policy is to negotiate & accept verbally or via email, you may indeed have a contract.

worth checking into anyway.

I wish you the best.

"f the bank's policy is to negotiate & accept verbally or via email, you may indeed have a contract. "

Thay can have any policy they want, the statuate of frauds requires al RE contrscts to be in writing.

No court will enforce a verbal RE contract.

To OP:

Be skeptical of legal advice offered on any internet forum.

I have sold real estate for many many years;
if you want the house, find out if the bank has a policy of negotiating verbally or via email.

Since their broker told you that your offer had been accepted, you may have a viable position.

Emailed documents are legally enforceable in a lot of cases. There is federal law behind it. Only an attorney can tell you whether it would be binding in this case.

"Emailed documents are legally enforceable in a lot of cases. There is federal law behind it. Only an attorney can tell you whether it would be binding in this case."

Unless they emailed a signed and completed contract (as opposed to just saying "we accept" y0ou will not get very far.

"if the bank's policy is to negotiate & accept verbally or via email, you may indeed have a contract. ":

You can try pushing the bank,m but they have much deeper pockets an attorneys on staff or retainer.

You can negotiate any way you want, but all final RE contracts must be in writing and signed by both parties.

Expecting an RE agent to understand even basic contract law seems to be a a sore point.

**UPDATE**

Last Friday our realtor called to inform us the Seller (bank) accepted out offer. We never got an attorney involved, we just sat and waited.

We submitted the contract with a cashiers check, and they accepted it today.

The only change we made was the closing date. The seller wanted to close on the 20th, they have agreed to our request of Sept. 28.

We realize they probably delayed accepting our offer because they hoped to have other buyers who would pay close to the price they were asking.

Inspection is at 8:00 am tomorrow.

Thank you.

ML