Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas
verbal contract
I am wondering if I have any rights for legal action. Last June I had a couple move in on my property. I was going to ownerfinance the property to them. The agreement was to pay the back taxes owed on it as a down payment. The tax office set up a payment plan for them to do that. They moved in and still we hadnot signed the contract yet. But they have been living on the property and paying taxes on it since june. I sent them the contract in Feb to sign they sent me the first payment, but still had not signed the contract. They took it to an attorney friend and he looked it over for them. They did not call us they just moved out and I just found that out. I also recieved a foreclosure notice on my property for those past taxes due because in order to keep payment arrangements with the tax office you have to have previous taxes paid before the new year taxes are due. So, my delimia is that they moved out, no contract has been signed. They have professed this is their placed and made one payment and made tax payments under their name on the property. Please help!!!!!!!!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: verbal contract
Typically, contracts for sale of real property must be in writing. However, in some cases the writing requirement can be overcome where a party has partially performed his part of the bargain. For example, taking possession, making improvements to the land, etc.