Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
Oral contract with In-Laws
My wife and I purchased a home with her parents 3 years ago. Her father paid down payment and we have been paying mortgage for last 3 years. Our agreement was my wife and I would get our investment back(mortgage payments) and her parents get the rest of money made at time of sale. Now we want to move out and sell the property but her parents are saying that we agreed to simply rent the property and no longer want to give us our money when we sell. This equates to $36k and want to know what we can do legally to get this money back. My wifes name and signature is on all paperwork signed at closing. Since our agreement was orally do we have a leg to stand on in eyes of law?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Oral contract with In-Laws
This is why we need to agree on the breakup prior to the partnership.
If the parents are in title, they don't have to give you back anything.
How did you/they handle the income tax deduction? There may be tax implications. Not favorable to them.
If wife's name is on the title the proceeds check will be made out to all of them. It cannot be cashed unless there is an agreement or a court order.
This might be a good lawsuit, but not good for thanksgiving dinner.
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Re: Oral contract with In-Laws
My understanding is that either you and/or your wife is on the mortgage.
This is not a contract for the purchase of real estate from her parents so this should not have a Statute of Frauds problem. In other words, the fact that this is an oral k is not an issue other then both sides can claim different things. The question is who would a judge listen to. Also, who claimed the income tax deduction for the interest on the mortgage. If you did, that is pretty convincing evidence that the agreement is what you said. The property tax interest is not really relevant, since everyone is in title, anyone of you could claim that.
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