Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Iowa
buying a home on a verbal contract
I am buying a home froma family member.we never signed an offical contract. It has been all verbal.We agreed on a certain price I have been making payments. Now he wants to change the price by $6000
saying it is to pay the taxes he will owe on the money made from the house. Is that legal? He gave us five years to pay the house off and now he wants us to pay it off now. It has only been 3yrs
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: buying a home on a verbal contract
The terms of an agreement cannot be changed unilaterally. However, you have just learned one of the problems of 1) entering into business arrangements with family or friends, and 2) not getting everything in writing.
Without something in writing, you will not be able to prove what your original agreement was. You should try to write down as much of the specifics as you can, including dates, who was present, what was said. Ultimately, it will probably boil down to a "your word against their word" situation. Also, agreements for real estate generally need to be in writing to be enforceable.
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