The short answer: no
The due diligence fee is owed the moment you go under contract. That’s the day the last person signs and it’s communicated back to the other side. Since July 2026, you have until the end of the next banking day to deliver it. That extra time changed when the money has to arrive. It didn’t change whether you owe it.
Here’s the way I explain it in class. The fee buys you one thing: the right to walk away during the due diligence period for any reason. Backing out is using that right. You can’t use a right you agreed to pay for and then decline to pay for it.
If you want the details on deadlines and banking days, I covered them in What happens if the due diligence fee is late?
Why refusing to pay can cost you your earnest money too
Not paying the fee doesn’t end the contract. Here’s what a seller can do:
- Send a written notice. Once the fee is late, the seller’s agent can notify you in writing that it hasn’t been received.
- Give you one more banking day. You then have until the end of the next banking day to deliver it in immediately available funds, such as a wire or an official bank check. A personal check doesn’t work at this point.
- Terminate because you didn’t pay. If the money still isn’t there, the seller may end the contract. Now the contract ended because the buyer didn’t do what they agreed to do.
That last step is what matters. When a buyer breaches the contract, the seller gets the earnest money and the due diligence fee. The contract treats those two amounts as the seller’s agreed damages (what lawyers call liquidated damages), and they’re the seller’s only remedy. In other words, the seller can’t come after the buyer for more, but the buyer loses both.
You may have heard that your earnest money is safe until due diligence ends. That’s true when you follow the contract. It isn’t true when you break it, and it doesn’t matter that you’re still inside the due diligence period.
The fee itself isn’t in question. The contract is clear: it’s owed. The real question is the earnest money. Could the buyer argue they terminated first, before they were in breach? They could try. I’m not an attorney, but having taught this contract for years, my opinion is that a seller who follows those steps is in the stronger position to keep the earnest money too.
What I tell buyers
If you’ve changed your mind, tell your agent right away, pay the fee on time, and then terminate in writing before due diligence ends. Paying the fee keeps your earnest money out of the argument. It’s the cheaper way out.
What I tell sellers
If the fee doesn’t arrive, don’t just hope. Ask your agent to send the written notice, wait the one banking day, and then decide. Be careful what you say in the meantime: a casual “get it to us whenever you can” can count as giving up the deadline.
Can the seller keep me out of the house until I pay?
Yes, if the seller chooses to. Since July 2026, a seller may limit the buyer’s physical access to the house, including inspectors, until the fee is paid. It isn’t automatic. It came from sellers watching buyers do every inspection in the first few days, then back out without ever paying.
Why I wrote this one
I teach this contract to other brokers, and this question comes up in nearly every class. Agents ask it. Buyers ask their agents. And the answer surprises people: you’re under contract the moment it’s signed, and so is the seller. The buyer agreed to pay for the right to walk away. Wanting the right without paying for it is where buyers get into trouble.
There’s a line I use with agents: words mean something. That goes for the contract, and for every text and email you send while it’s in force.
I teach students and agents that my job is to teach them enough to know they don’t know enough. A buyer refusing to pay, or a dispute over earnest money, is where a real estate attorney comes in. Every contract and every situation is different. This article explains how the standard North Carolina contract generally works. It isn’t legal advice. If you’re in this situation, talk to a real estate attorney about your situation.
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