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they forgave a $23,000 debt, which John owed them, but presented
no trustworthy evidence of this indebtedness. We do not believe
that petitioners paid the commission, and we therefore disallow
the inclusion of this amount in petitioners' Crow Canyon basis.
c. Lost Escrow Deposit
While respondent included in the basis of Crow Canyon $5,000
of earnest money, which was deposited in escrow and then used to
purchase the property on December 18, 1986, petitioners assert
that they are entitled to an additional $5,000. Petitioners
contend that they fumbled an earlier attempt to purchase Crow
Canyon and, consequently, on that deal they lost their $5,000 of
earnest money, also held in escrow. They now seek to add this
allegedly lost escrow deposit to their basis in Crow Canyon.
While we believe that petitioners previously deposited
$5,000 into escrow and that this deposit was earnest money for an
earlier agreement, we are unpersuaded that petitioners lost the
money. There is no document in evidence that describes the final
disposition of the escrow account. The documents submitted
merely evidence an ongoing negotiation--signed by one party or
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