Posted by Mark-NC on July 26, 2001 at 08:40:56:
Jose O,
I am no attorney but in my opionion I would say the seller is right. If the contract states that you have to put down $10 earnest money to make it a binding contract and you haven’t, the contract would not be valid untill you did.
Mark
Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Jose O. (FL)
Posted by Jose O. (FL) on July 26, 2001 at 08:04:54:
Hi there!
I have person that wants to backdown from a contract. He says the contract is not valid because I never gave him the $10.00 consideration mentioned in the contract. No earnest money was given. Can he legally do this?
Thanks for your answer.
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Mike Schmidt (IL)
Posted by Mike Schmidt (IL) on July 26, 2001 at 21:26:15:
How does your contract read as far as consideration money is concerned? Bronchick refferences this in his course but it has to do with the contents of the deed, it might apply for your purchase agreement as well if the wording is there, here is a blurp:
CONSIDERATION: The deed must state that the grantor received consideration even if he didn’t actually get it. You can insert the purchase price or simply the words “the grantee has received ten dollars in hand and other good and valuable consideration, the sufficency of which is herby acknowledged”
Just a shot in the dark, but best thing to do would be ask your attorney.
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Sean
Posted by Sean on July 26, 2001 at 14:03:13:
A contract requires:
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Don
Posted by Don on July 26, 2001 at 13:15:03:
Not an attorney, but a CPA. Consideration in the legal sense can be money, a promise to pay, or anything else to show the other party that you are giving something up for the contract. Under the Statute of Frauds, any real estate contracts must be in writing to be enforceable. So if the contract states the form of consideration then you must conform to that stated form. Yes, a judge could rule that the consideration is not equitable for the transaction but who wants to go that far. Run from a deal that gets that ugly.
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Stacy (AZ)
Posted by Stacy (AZ) on July 26, 2001 at 11:55:26:
I’ll assume you meant a sales contract. You may want to read the following article regarding consideration and earnest money.
http://www.creonline.com/art-111.htm
If the contract stated “$10 or other valuable consideration”, you may be OK. If it specifically stated you would put down $10 for earnest money, and you didn’t, your seller is probably correct. I’ve had my title guy tell me, “Stacy, you need to get me your earnest money check, because without it we don’t have a valid contract”.
Stacy
(not a lawyer)
Re: Consideration - - Posted by SueC
Posted by SueC on July 26, 2001 at 11:52:01:
If the contract called for $10 consideration and you didn’t pay it, then you lose. Even if you did put down the $10, you can lose, because $10 may be considered by any judge you go up against as insufficient, a failure of consideration depending on your deal. De minimis amounts are not always legally binding.
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Lou
Posted by Lou on July 26, 2001 at 11:10:38:
Why not fork over the $10.00 and be done with it?
Re: Consideration - Question for the experienced - Posted by Carbo
Posted by Carbo on July 26, 2001 at 09:34:29:
Sounds like some type of lease purchase deal, correct?
In any event, and I emphasize I am NOT an attorney and not the last word here, but if you didn’t put down the option money called for in your agreement, then said agreement is probably not valid. My two cents…