Verbal agreement on a home

[koinaz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona
Hi. My family and i had entered a verbal agreement on the buying of a home. this was with another family member, they put the down payment and approx half of the cost of the home. We were to buy the home, but things have changed, we no longer get along with this person, they live in the same house, we have paid all the bills for over a year, the house has went down in value by at least 70K. We never signed any paper work, and i think it really boils down to a moral issue? can this other family member make us buy this house? thanks for any replies!

 

[HuAi]

Why would the seller put down money on a sale...? Usually it's the buyer who puts money down into escrow so he can't walk away from the deal.

Anyway no written contract means you are free to walk away.

 

[divgradcurl]

It may be more than a moral issue. Although the general rule is that verbal contracts related the real estate are unenforceable under the statute of frauds, it can be possible to enforce a verbal contract when there has been detrimental reliance. Whether or not that can be show in this case will depend on an analysis of all of the facts of the situation.