is agreement binding?

[babablacksheep]

Is a verbal and/or email agreement to an offer binding?

Please keep in mind that I HAVE NOT signed any document or deed.

Offer that I agreed to reads: "In consideration of you signing a warranty deed conveying your rights, title and interest in the Subject Property to our clients, our clients will pay you $14,000. The benefit to you is that you will avoid the expenses related to either litigating this matter, e.g. attorney feeds, master fees, realtor commission, or maintaining and caring for the Property. We believe this to be a fair and reasonable settlement proposal since you are receiving exactly 1/5 of the appraised value without any deduction for your share of the maintenance & expenses affiliated with the property."

3 1/2 months later the deed is ready to sign, I asked about settling the prorated taxed & other prepaid items and I was told that I gave up EVERYTHING since I verbally agreed to their offer to include any fuel oil, propane, etc.

There is also personal property on the premises (furn & household items) that have not been distributed by the estate yet and one of my sisters who is the leader of the partition action is also the executrix and is holding off the distribution for who knows why. I worry that I will lose everything in the house. Please, your comments

 

[army judge]

I suggest you speak with a lawyer.
If real property (real estate) is involved oral contracts or verbal agreements are unenforceable as a matter of law.
See a local attorney.
The initial meeting is normally free of charge.


Sent from my iPad3 using Tapatalk HD

 

[fredrikklaw]

Statute of frauds!

BABABLACKSHEEP:

Going strictly by what information you have provided, I would have to say NO; you are on safe grounds, and are you sure that this person is an actual attorney, licensed to practice law in the state of Pennsylvania? I would run a search with PA's Bar to see if this so-called attorney is for real, because I cannot believe that he would make as idiotic and patently a false legal comment as "you have given up everything since you verbally agreed to…!"

So I presume you are not represented by counsel in this matter which could explain one of two reasons as to why an attorney would make such an asinine claim; It could be that (#1) he might be thinking that he can pile on the garbage and get away with it since you are not going to be none the wiser as a lay person, or it could be that (#2) he really does not know what the hell is talking about.

In either case, you have got to either call his bluff or his idiocy by telling him the following which is taught in the first few weeks of the first year of law school:

That there is such a thing as STATUTE OF FRAUDS, which is a legal doctrine that requires that certain types of contracts to be in WRITING in order to be enforceable. While there may be nuisances within different states, the core types of contracts governed by STATUTE OF FRAUDS remain the same. Examples of such contracts are: Marriage Contract' Purchase or Sale of goods over $500; Promise to answer for another's debt and of course, any transaction involving real state.

Now, had you given verbal consent and promise of a performance in any other area, your acceptance would have been upheld and the contract enforceable.

But it wouldn't be law if we did not present both sides of the argument and as such, you have t know and beware of the exception (or circumstance) which takes the contract out of the STATUTE OF FRAUDS and renders it very much enforceable. That exception comes into play only if the other party relied on your promise (acceptance) to his detriment. In other words, if your acceptance, albeit verbal, induced the other party into doing a certain act or refraining from doing the act in reliance of your promise and he will now suffer a detrimental result because of your reversal.

Examples would be if he went out and hired interior decorators and paid them all up front their non-refundable fees. Or, if he put up for sale his old house in anticipation of moving into yours and now the house is sold and he should be out of there in a week or two.

fredrikklaw

 

[babablacksheep]

Thank you fredrikklaw. Your response is detailed and written in a matter that I, being a lay person, can understand.

The other parties (sisters) did have a title search done and the attorney did draw up a deed. Would the costs associated with theses acts fall under the exception of the STATUTE OF FRAUDS?

I have until Monday or else the attorney is going to file a motion to uphold the verbal and emailed acceptance of the agreement

Again, thank you.

 

[babablacksheep]

Thank you army judge.

 

[fredrikklaw]

Here, yes could well mean no!

BABABLACKSHEEP:

My apologies for the delay in responding to your follow up post; I had not visited the site since I responded to your original post here!

So, the attorney is going to file a motion to uphold the verbal agreement, is he?

Well, this is a contract dispute and as such, the attorney has two choices in such a situation; one is to file a Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement (which sounds like what he is going to do), or two, file a Motion for Specific Performance. While the first motion is proper when the case is still ongoing, the second option comes into play if the case has been dealt with already. But all things said and done, you can safely say that these two options are six of one, and half a dozen of the other.

The same!

But regardless of what motion is filed, the court will apply the general principles of Contract Law in order to decide the matter and as such tow sets of very important issues come under the microscope for analysis: First, did the parties agree on all of the material terms of the settlement, so as to give rise to an enforceable agreement? Or were essential terms left open, such that there was no "meeting of the minds"? Second, even if an enforceable settlement agreement was reached, are there grounds for rescission of that agreement? And this is just for starters.

And I direct your attention specifically to the underlined sentence above. Just because an agreement was reached, it does not make it a contract if there are grounds for recession. The analogy here would be if you went to Vegas, got plastered and said to the girl you had just met that you would marry her, or in fact you were married already and the hell with the rest. But luckily for you, she cannot run to a divorce attorney and claim half of your paycheck and the duplex in downtown, because while technically you contracted to marry her, that specific contract has no legal force since it is one that should be reduced to writing.

And no, the statute of frauds covers transactions of $500 and up in goods, and besides, what transpires between your sisters and the attorney has already been reduced to writing as in the original agreement your sisters signed when they retained the attorney.

What you are going to receive is also known as a noticed motion, with at least a 30 to 45 days of leeway allowing time for your response in opposition to the motion and for their response to your opposition (if there be one) before the allotted time for the hearing. And please keep in mind that if you do not respond to the motion, it will be granted unopposed and a default judgment entered in your sister's favor. So be sure to raise a ruckus.

Let me know if you have any more questions or concerns.

fredrikklaw