Is a buyer entitled to return the deposit money paid by the buyer to the buyer?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Tang v. Zhang, 2013 BCCA 52 (CanLII):
Bowen L.J., concurring, emphasized that the question of whether the buyer was entitled to the return of the deposit money must in each case be a question of the terms of the contract, citing Palmer v. Temple (1839) 9 Ad. & E. 508. His Lordship found that the contract at issue contained nothing that would “deprive the deposit ... of the character which it would bear if there were no special clause” and continued: We have therefore to consider what in ordinary parlance, and as used in an ordinary contract of sale, is the meaning which business persons would attach to the term “deposit”. Without going at length into the history ... it comes shortly to this, that a deposit, if nothing more is said about it, is, according to the ordinary interpretation of businessmen, a security for the completion of the purchase[.] [At 98.]
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