Opinion ID: 1732706
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the chancellor erred in denying hamilton's counterclaim for refund of earnest money and attorney's fees.

Text: ¶ 23. Hamilton asserts that he is entitled to a return of his earnest money deposit and payment of his attorney's fees because of his dissatisfaction with the inspection and service of the HVAC units. Specifically, Hamilton refers to Paragraph 15 which states, in pertinent part, If inspection is found to be unsatisfactory to Purchaser, because defects in the structures, systems or elements are discovered, the Purchaser shall not be obligated to complete the purchase of property herein described and all earnest money will be refunded to the Purchaser. The Hopkinses, however, assert that there was little evidence to support Hamilton's claims and that his breach was untimely and unsupported. We agree with the Hopkinses. ¶ 24. Hamilton testified that he attempted to contact Harriel and Pringle from August 1 to August 24 to tell them he would not purchase the property without a reduction in price or replacement of the HVAC units. The Hopkinses knew that Hamilton was acting through an agent, namely, The Buyer's Agent, throughout the process. A real estate agent is a special agent of its principal and is vested with limited powers. Blanks v. Sadka, 241 Miss. 821, 133 So.2d 291, 293 (1961) (citing Shemper v. Latter & Blum, Inc., 214 Miss. 113, 58 So.2d 359 (1952)). If Hamilton wished to rescind the contract due to the perceived defects in the HVAC units and recover his earnest money deposit, he would have had to communicate that to The Buyer's Agent, which would, in turn, communicate it to the Hopkinses' agent. Hamilton's intention to rescind was not communicated to the Hopkinses until two days prior to the August 31 closing, at which time the Hopkinses had already moved out of the house early at Hamilton's request. This notification two days prior to closing, while arguably timely, was not fair to the Hopkinses, and the chancellor's refusal to return to Hamilton the earnest money deposit was a reasonable exercise of his equitable power, for equity regards as done that which should be done. Harris v. Kemp, 451 So.2d 1362, 1366 (Miss. 1984); PMZ Oil Co. v. Lucroy, 449 So.2d 201, 208 (Miss.1984); Mahaffey v. First Nat'l Bank, 231 Miss. 798, 97 So.2d 756, 765 (1957). After the Hopkinses moved out early at Hamilton's request, it would not be equitable to deny the Hopkinses the liquidated damages, the only damages to which they are entitled, simply because Hamilton was unable to contact his agents of his desire not to consummate the deal.