Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

A contract for the transfer of real property must be in writing, with some exceptions. So you probably are not obligated to purchase the home no matter what. If you made it clear that the money as to the boat was only being paid in lieu of payments directly for the house, then since the sale of the house has fallen through, you not only do not have to pay anything more as to the boat but are entitled to receive back what you have paid as to the boat plus reasonable interest on that sum. The landlord appears to have breached the oral contract by changing the price of the home. No one will believe that you made any payments on the boat without expecting something in return, so the landlord will have a very difficult time denying that the payments were in lieu of payments for the house.

If he will not return your money within a reasonable time, sue in Small Claims Court if the $7,500 limit is ok wlith you. If more money is involved, this is a straight forward enough case that you could probably sue in Superior Court without needing an attorney, or at least no mor than a few hours of legal advice.

Never again make an oral agreement for any obligation; always have it in writing so that you will have no problem proving what the parties intended.

This sounds like an agreement that has a multiplicity of defenses to its enforcement, including the statute of frauds, failure of consideration, failure of a condition precedent, and so on.

I think you asked a somewhat different question based on similar facts a few days ago - something about whether a lower price on the house purchase could be enforced - and I guess you've decided not to buy the landlord's house at any price. Forgive me if I'm mixing up two unrelated questions.

I would be very surprised if any court would ever enforce the oral agreement, but if a suit were brought against your husband by the landlord, you'd have to make a defense to it or risk getting a judgment by default against you.

I would also be willing to give you a more complete analysis, at no charge, if you send me complete facts and copies of any documents by FAX or e-mail, privately off the LawGuru site.

If this is the same situation that has been posted several times before, you need to make up your mind whether you had a written or oral agreement. If you had a written agreement for the purchase/sale of the house, with $30,000 down, and then an oral modification that you would make payments on his boat loan as part or all of the down payment, you still have a contract that is enforceable both ways. No matter what, however, the landlord has no right to change the price if you had a written contract at the price you agreed on.