Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
My sister owns a condominium in FLORIDA (in her name only) in which her son currently resides. At present, he does not formally pay rent persay, but has been putting "sweat equity" into the condo with renovation work.
Due to their sometime-contentious relationship, the son wants his name added to the deed to prevent her from arbitrarily ejecting him from the property in the future. She intends to begin charging him rent. My (non-legal) advice to them both has been that what they need is a formal LEASE AGREEMENT, not deed changes.
I've strongly recommended they consult an attorney, neither of them is motivated to incur the expense & formality of that, intending instead just to write their own "back of an envelope" 1-pager "I will pay Mom $x/month".
Am I correct in telling them that such an approach would fail to clarify each party's obligations sufficiently, fail to address likely issues that will arise in the future, and may result in an unenforceable agreement?
1 Answer from Attorneys
She intends to charge him rent, but he is aware that she is going to start that? Things already sound contentious from what you wrote. I would recommend that although they are mother and son, they should memorialize their agreement into a writing so that the terms are clear. It may be possible to do it on the back of an envelope, but issues may arise down the road when the agreement and its terms are contested. If the back of the envelope has the requisite formalities and the specifics each party desires, it can be a valid contract.
I suspect the issue of sweat equity makes the situation a bit more complicated. My recommendation is to get it all in writing and have them each sign the contract. Although no attorney is necessary to handle this matter, when dealing with highly contentious issues that can't be settled between two people, hiring an attorney can prevent future headaches and financial strain
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