House Purchase on Verbal Agreement!

[TrinityGirl]

What is the name of your state? Florida
This is in regards to my fiance' - He was married for 12 years and living in New York, and it was time for a change. He and his ex-wife (while they were still married) went for vacation here in Florida. They saw a property that they both liked. The problem was that they owned a house already up in New York and their credit wasn't good enough to purchase the new home. The sister-in-law (wife's sister), volunteered to purchase the house for them until the house in New York was sold and then just add their name to the deed so that 6 month's later they could re-finance the property without any problems. By the time the house sold and it was time to move, they got divorced and this house was to be his when he moved down here to Florida.

There was a standing verbal agreement for his name to be added to the deed with the knowledge that 6 months later he would re-finance the property under his name.

Now two years later, after a $20,000 down payment, $13,500 put into the 2nd mortgage and monthly mortgage payments in the amount of $1,400 which has added to an excess amount of over $47000 and his name has yet to be added to the deed. He has all the documentation for these monies paid by him directly from his checking account.

Now two month's ago, he decided not to continue making the mortgage payments for a property that is not considered to be his. The house is supposedly being rented by him, because of the two months where he did not pay the mortgage.

Question #1 - Are verbal agreements held up in court for the state of Florida?
Question #2 - Would a property lein be the best legal way of getting most or at least some of his money back or is a standard lawsuit necessary in this type situation?

We are running out of time because the ex-in law's are now planning on re-financing and possibly trying to get us evicted.

Question #3 - Can they evict us with all the money (with proof of payment) that he has paid for the last two years????
Question #4 - What are his legal rights in this type of situation???

Thank you in advance for any help or advice that can be given!

Note: He knows that he should have made written documentation, but when the agreement was made, it was made out of love and trust of family for over 12 years. And we have seen it before posts have been made where even family or friends of many years - documentation should have been made. We are ready to walk away from this situation and start all over - but it's just not fair for him!!! Hind sight is 20/20!!!!!

 

[Zigner]

For anything related to property, it must be in writing...

 

[PghREA]

Get all your information together to show to the judge but, as Zinger said, in regards to real estate transactions, everything must be in writing.

 

[lcannister]

Question #4 - What are his legal rights in this type of situation???

This comment will not help you but perhaps someone else. The above quoted question should have been ask of an Atty BEFORE he sunk this kind of monies into something he had absolutely no legal interest in.

In retrospect a few hundred bucks would have been very inexpensive indeed.

 

[TrinityGirl]

Like I said before, hind sight is 20/20!!! Never trust a smiling face in regards to money!!! I know this and I learned my lesson a long time ago about this type of thing, but I walked in on this situation in progress! Now I just want to know what we can do to try and salvage some of the money if any at all!

Again, we are willing to walk away from this whole thing and lose all the money put into it, but it just doesn't seem fair at all!

What can be done if anything?

 

[BoredAtty]

Your fiance needs to see an attorney ASAP.

Although real estate contracts need to be in writing to be enforced, there are circumstances which may render the "statute of frauds" moot.

Generally speaking, a party to a verbal contract cannot use the statute of frauds as a means to avoid his contractual obligations if he has already accepted the benefit of the contract from the other party. In other words, if your fiance already performed his part of the contract, then the ex-sister-in-law may be stuck.

 

[TrinityGirl]

I tried to contact an attorney, and after a conversation explaining the situation he asked for a retainer fee in the amount of $2500 to begin the process. At $200 an hour and the first three hours will be to examine the case and let us know if it is worth their time or not.

Question - Is there a way where we can begin this process on our own by visiting our local court house and filing a lawsuit without a lawyer or are there other lawyers that are less expensive than this?

I was thinking about sending a letter first to see if it scares him into doing the right thing and signing the deed over to us so that in six months we can re-finance the property under my fiance's name and sign him off the deed! Is this a viable option??? Or are we just wasting our time, money and efforts on this??? Should we just walk away?

Please help!

 

[lcannister]

I was thinking about sending a letter first to see if it scares him into doing the right thing and signing the deed over to us so that in six months we can re-finance the property under my fiance's name and sign him off the deed! Is this a viable option???

The best money you can spend, if you want to spend a few hundred to see if they budge, is to get an Atty to write such a letter on his/her letterhead. Seeing that you have taken it to an Atty might scare them where your letter might mean nothing to them.

You need to either spend the money to consult an Atty, many will not even charge for a 30 minute consult or at a reduced rate, and see what your options are or move on. Only you can decide where to go from there.

At minimum take them to small claims for the max in your area!