Seller not signing the release of EMD

[Barbara Berta]

Hi Everyone, I was under contract for a property but I didn't qualify for financing because the lender that provided the preapproval changed its financing source while I was looking for properties for a couple of weeks and as of now, they do not provide loans for foreign nationals anymore. 

They didn't tell me about that until I went under contract and applied for a loan. I wasn't able to find another lender who would require less than 30% cash and lots of points, so I didn't qualify with any other lender either and had to release the contract. 

Despite all this, the seller is not willing to release the EMD, he offered 25% of the $5,000 EMD which is insane considering that we had a financing contingency in the contract. I can prove that I had about 100 emails back and forth with different lenders and I also have a denial letter. My agent says that there is a clause based on which he can dispute it and then the EMD stays in escrow for 2 years.

Is the seller allowed to refuse to sign the release if he has no reason to base a dispute on?

I signed the purchase agreement of REMAX which also says this. 

1. EARNEST MONEY: In the event of a dispute between the Seller and Buyer regarding the disbursement of this earnest money, the broker is required by Ohio law to maintain such funds in the broker’s trust account until the broker received (a) written instructions signed by the parties specifying how the earnest money is to be disbursed or (b) a final court order that specifies to whom the earnest money is to be awarded. If within two years from the date the earnest money was deposited in the broker’s trust account, and the parties have not provided the broker with such signed instruction or written notice that such legal action to resolve the dispute has been filed, the broker shall return the earnest money to the purchaser with no further notice to the seller. The broker shall acknowledge receipt of the earnest money shown on line 28 to the escrow agent who shall credit that amount to the BUYER’S escrow account. Unless otherwise stated herein, the earnest money shall be retained in the broker’s trust account until after title transfer at which time it shall be applied against any compensation due the broker. Any amount by which the earnest money exceeds the compensation due the broker shall be remitted to the escrow agent.

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Russell Brazil]

Quote from @Barbara Berta:

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

Did your financing contingency specify a certain amount of days? And if so Did you blow through that number of days or did you provide the financing denial letter before those days expired?

If you did miss the deadline, why wasn't your agent cognizant of the deadline?

 Yes, and the deadline was April 22, which is 6 days from now.

 Seems pretty straight forward then. If Ohio has them, have your agent file a case with the administrative law judge to get an order to release the funds.