How to get the deposit money back from escrow?

I would contact your realtor, that would be her/his job to provide any documentation to the seller indicating the property is smaller then what was advertised. If she can't get anywhere then I would go to the Managing Broker of the real estate company he or she works for. Shouldn't be a problem!

As long as you never agreed to lift contingencies at that point...yes, you ought to be entitled to received your deposit money. I am little dismayed that you appear to have been waiting a period of time and they have already sold the property again. Your realtor should find out from the escrow officer who was in charge about releasing your deposit money to you since another sale is pending. Did your loan officer not cancel escrow?? As the lender rep. I always cancel escrow and the loan and make sure any deposit money is forthcoming. The whole point of an appraisal is that you wait to review it before you lift contingencies on the loan and you obviously had an excellent reason to pull out of the purchase.

It depends on how your purchase contract was written up. The whole idea of earnest money is to put in place a financial penalty if you want to break the contract. With that said, with enough pressure, especially if the square footage was off; ie: a misrepresentation, you generally are able to get your earnest money back. This will be up to your agent to apply the pressure, and sadly, many agents are very weak. Good luck!

Check with your realtor, they should be helping you resolve this problem. If they are non responsive contact his/her broker directly. In Pa. there is a form to fill our to have the buyer and seller to sign to release the monies appropriately.