You need to hire a real estate attorney and report the real estate agent who did this to the realty board IMMEDIATELY. Was anything signed? or just verbal? You might even look into a suit against the seller. Bad faith.

Sucks for you guys, and sorry to hear about your situation.  Did you happen to get a signed contract? Becasue that might give you some leverage to sue this jerk for breach of. 

Either way, best of luck to you.  Hope you can find something that works out for you.

Verbal only. We were told that they were "in the process of drawing up the contract" so there was nothing yet to sign. That should have told me something right there. We did fill out applications and such, but I don't think that counts.

Here's a killer:  my husband just spoke to one of the realtors, who called him, "apologized" and said that he had a few more places for us to look at, since the first one did not "work out". As if we would do business with these people again!

Some people have absolutely no sense of morality whatsoever. Manipulating one person just to get something out of another. I'm so sorry you're going through this, I truly am. The realtor should definitely be reported. Did they have knowledge of the fact that you and your husband were being used as leverage against this other buyer? If so, they are every bit as responsible as the seller is. I wish you luck and will pray that your situation improves.

I still think you need to talk to an attorney and report the realty company who was planning the 'deal'.  Is the realtor a private person or do they work for a company like (example) century 21? Does he have a boss (broker)? His/their license might be on the line

They are owner/brokers of their company, a husband/wife team, so they are the boss. At first I did not want to believe that they were privy to such a raw deal--they seemed so nice--but they are the listing broker. They can sue the home owner for breach of contract if he sells the house on his own and does not pay the broker his commission.

Thank you, my friends, for your support and encouragement. I do feel better after writing it down. I feel even better knowing that I am not wrong about everyone, and that there really are great people around.

Just when you think people can't stoop any further, we hear of a story like this. So sorry to hear of your heartbreak. I've heard that in some instances a verbal contract can be as binding as a written contract. Call a good (if there is such a thing) Attorney in town and see what your options might be. People that would do this are scum! Are they from Bakersfield? I'm with you, I'd tell them to take a flying leap. If they will do something like this once, God only knows what else they might pull. Call the Real Estate Umbudsman. That person can give you good advise. I had a situation with some Realtors in town when I sold my previous house. I called the Umbudsman, and he told me to call the police. Needless to say after being told some things by him, those Realtors were ready to pay me, to make it right. Seriously, there are some good Realtors out there, but I think they are few and far between!

Geez Ghostriter.  I cannot believe that.  Maybe Witters is right--maybe you really can do something about it legally.  I just cannot believe the owner would work out a deal with you like that and then turn around and sell it to someone else.  If I were you I would tell the owner exactly how he/she had upended your life and ruined your holidays--spread the misery a little.  Let them have a little constant nagging doubt about their own morality this holiday season as they sit in front of the fireplace with their hot chocolate. 

Boy, if I were them I'd be REALLY afraid of the karma that's coming their way.  It ain't gonna be pretty.

ghost, Call the DRE (Department of Real Estate). It is in Fresno, but they can tell you who, and how to contact our local Umbudsman. I looked up there number for you. (559)445-5009. Way to many people just roll over and let people take advantage of them. As you can tell, I am not one of those people. GOOD LUCK! 

One can only hope, Cat, about the karma thing.

Oh, I'll bet on it, Ghost.

January will start well enough for them.  They'll put the proceeds from the sale of the house in the bank and buy a couple of little nice things for themselves--a fur coat for her and a new pair of leather boots for him.

February will be okay until the disasterous Big Bear skiing vacation.  Broken legs are such a drag!

March will be the month they decide to invest in Chinese lead-based children's toys. 

April will be the month they realize red is a BAD color on a balance sheet.  Oopsie!

May will be the month that they, in desperation, decide to move to Africa and look for blood diamonds.  In Libya.

June will be the month they finally escape from their captors in the secret Taliban training camp, only to be arrested by the CIA as Taliban sympathizers.

July will be the month they are brought back to the United States, where they will drain all the rest of their savings to pay for their attorney.

August will be a comparitively good month, where the only bad thing that happens is that they are inexplicably attacked by rabid bats at the Popeye's Chicken where they are working.

September will be a banner month--the case against them by the US will be dropped.  They still have no money, so they move in with his sister and her husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, cousin-in-law and 14 kids.  In Lost Hills.

October will find them on the streets when they are kicked out of the house for not laughing hard enough at "Dukes of Hazzard" reruns.  The move into a Santa Barbara homeless shelter, since the Bakersfield one isn't good enough for them.

November will find them camped out on the beach in Los Osos, huddling under her fur coat and boiling his leather boots for soup. 

December will be the month they finally manage to get jobs and a studio apartment on Q St, when they receive a Christmas card from you saying,

Hahahaha!  Merry Christmas!!!!

It's a sad, harsh lesson, but never do anything with regards to real estate without a paper contract. There are all sorts of laws in place to protect transactions, but they often don't kick in without a paper contract. Also, don't expect too much help from the license board or such unless you can afford a really good lawyer. Look at how long it's taking them to pull Cole's license.

As for what to do now, I know there are a ton of "for rent" signs up in the downtown and southwest areas (areas where I've been the last week). I'm sure you can find another rental on short notice. I would recommend just staying in a rental for now and saving up for a down payment plus some to spare so that next time you can enter into a conventional contract instead of one of these lease-to-own situations (which are fraught with dangers). I'd say you'd want at least 5% down plus at least 6 months worth of your take-home pay in savings before hitting the market again.

I actually wish I had rented for a bit longer and saved up more. It's amazing how fast you'll burn through savings when you buy a house, even one with all sorts of upgrades already done on it. My cash reserves are nowhere near what they should be because things keep cropping up like having to remove the birch trees that got diseased due to the frost two years ago, having to replace the controller on the relatively new York AC/heater unit, etc.

There is such a thing as ( Fiduciary Responsibility ) to your clients in the Real Estate Field. Ghost, I hope you at least give them the (Umbudsman) a call. Like I stated above I did, and was very happy I did. At the very least maybe they will take a report on these people. You might keep someone else from enduring the same thing by these scumbags. Usually that is one of my main motivators.  I don't want someone else to have to go through what I've been through. When I get screwed by someone, I want them to know that not everyone takes it lying down. The greedy people of this world count on the fact that most will not be tenacious enough to follow through.

proam, I called the number you gave me. They advised me to get copies of all our paperwork, (applications, credit reports, etc.) and fill out a formal complaint on their website. We are going to look into this much further. The problem is going to be in proving that the broker knew what the home owner was up to. But we are going to try.

The general consensus is that we should not take this lying down, and so we are not going to. Shwaine could be right, though, and it could mean expensive attorney fees and all that. Thanks for all the help...I'll keep you posted.