real-estate agreement?

[taichi]

I had a question. I'm not sure if I need a lawyer yet.
My uncle is threatening me to put a lien on my house (which is paid for and under my name) *******

in 1998 he verbally sold me the house and I would have an interest free loan of 90k for 5 years from him for the house. after that we would negotiate how to pay 90k to him. we didn't sign anything, he did write notes on a scap peice of paper and we have several email about this. nothing was signed*********

I've been living in the house ever since it was build, I also changed the house title to my name alone about 2 years ago. ***

I was negotiating the price down 5k. anyway we reached an agreement over email (not verbal) for me to pay 75k in late May 2004, and 10k a year later. ****

well, we got into an arguement about other issues and he said to pay up end of Feb. I said "i'll pay when I feel like it" May 2004 is when I agreed to. so he threatens to file a lawsuit if I don't pay by the end of January now. ********

Does email hold any weight on this matter?
Is this a verbal agreement?
is this a real estate agreement?
Am I legally bound to pay any amount. *******

I have always intended in paying him, but I never expected a lawsuit. what if he goes though with the law suit and i pay in May when I agreed to??

 

[lwpat]

Real Estate Title

"I've been living in the house ever since it was build, I also changed the house title to my name alone about 2 years ago"

Exactly how did you change the title to the property? If you Uncle owns the property you cannot legally change the title without his signature.

"Does email hold any weight on this matter?'

Emails are not legal documents since they can be easily changed. The only way they would hold any weight is if your Uncle verified the contents.

"is this a real estate agreement? "

No. a real estate agreement must be in writing.

You need to consult a local attorney and get the agreement between you and your Uncle on paper. Then there cannot be any argument over the terms.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

lwpat has many of the right answers, including the fact that a real estate agreement must be in writing. E-mail negotiations would not be sufficient and it sounds like there wasn't a true 'meeting of the minds' that is required for an enforceable agreement. That said... how did you accomplish a change of title?

Originally posted by taichi
I had a question. I'm not sure if I need a lawyer yet.
My uncle is threatening me to put a lien on my house (which is paid for and under my name) *******

in 1998 he verbally sold me the house and I would have an interest free loan of 90k for 5 years from him for the house. after that we would negotiate how to pay 90k to him. we didn't sign anything, he did write notes on a scap peice of paper and we have several email about this. nothing was signed*********

I've been living in the house ever since it was build, I also changed the house title to my name alone about 2 years ago. ***

I was negotiating the price down 5k. anyway we reached an agreement over email (not verbal) for me to pay 75k in late May 2004, and 10k a year later. ****

well, we got into an arguement about other issues and he said to pay up end of Feb. I said "i'll pay when I feel like it" May 2004 is when I agreed to. so he threatens to file a lawsuit if I don't pay by the end of January now. ********

Does email hold any weight on this matter?
Is this a verbal agreement?
is this a real estate agreement?
Am I legally bound to pay any amount. *******

I have always intended in paying him, but I never expected a lawsuit. what if he goes though with the law suit and i pay in May when I agreed to??