A: There is some recourse for buyers who think they were duped: state consumer protection laws. Designed to protect buyers from unfair or deceptive business practices, they guard against such tactics as bait and switch.

However based on the details you provide, Seattle attorney Craig Blackmon says he doubts that your son's situation is a consumer protection issue -- unless your son has strong proof he was deceived by the seller.

Absent that, your son has no recourse, says Blackmon, because his agreement with the seller is both legal and typical of how the market works.

"The buyer and seller each strike a unique bargain, and that bargain may not be the same as reached by the same seller and a different buyer. The theory is, the marketplace works best when people are able to strike their own unique bargains," Blackmon says.

Indeed, that's common in car purchases, where the final price is dependent on the buyer's negotiating skills. It's also very common for airline passengers to pay widely varying prices on the same flight. There's nothing illegal about that.

It's a non-starter that the seller should have revealed his financial situation. "A seller is under no obligation whatsoever to disclose his financial situation or any other reason for selling a unit," Blackmon concludes.