If you were attempting to buy the house with an FHA loan; the contract was contingent on the FHA appraisal. If you can't get an approval from the appraiser; the standard language in all FHA contracts specifies that you can get your earnest money back. If the seller is not responding; you have the right to give the seller a written 3 day demand to respond, after which, you should be able to cancel the contract and be entitled to the return of your earnest money. If you are doing this without a Realtor and you did not use a title company to hold your earnest money, then you may need a real estate attorney to help you get your money back. If you used the standard Arizona contract, the language on this is very clear. If you used a different contract, there may be other language, but the Arizona courts tend to treat the use of a non-standard real estate contract as a deceptive practice. - Sun Jul 12 2009, 12:33