Withholding an offer

We put an offer on land that is bank owned and being handled by a real estate agency. Our offer was not submitted to the bank for nearly 22 hours (8 business hours). In the meantime, the listing agent submitted an offer from a local builder- while our offer stayed in her inbox. Only when prompted by our Realtor did she finally submit our offer to the bank. Our offer was the higher offer but we were told that we would have to write another offer the next morning by 8:00 and they would choose the better offer then. Our offer was beat the next day (we can't compete with a big local builder). Is there any legal accountability for the agent who ignored our offer? How long can a listing agent withhold an offer from the seller? We were also not able to place a hold on the land with a non-refundable deposit but previous to the offers, the builder was allowed to hold the land. Is this discrimination? Now we have to get a lot that is $12,000 more. Can we sue them or take them to small claims court for the difference in the cost of the land? This is in the state of Indiana. Thank you for your time, we feel helpless!

8 business hours probably is not enough to sue for damages.

But you could try and make the argument. Was the offer outstanding and as soon as you accepted it, it would be binding? Or were there details to work out?