Verbal Contract Issues

[avonreal]

Verbal agreements aren't binding.

they can be if there's a witness

[zestytx]

I am not an attorney, just a real estate agent. Here's my opinion, though. First of all, verbal agreements are not binding. Second of all, this could be considered mortgage fraud, I believe, if it was disclosed to the lender. There should be a provision in the mortgage documents where you had to sign that there were no verbal agreements. If you signed that in the affirmative, and there WAS a verbal agreement... well right there, I see some issues.

If you really want to save yourself and your agent a lot of grief, let him/her pay you the $1550 as a sort of penalty to him or her for getting in to this agreement in the first place. Agents who value their license and their livelihood need to be very cautious about these types of situations.

[escapeso]

I agree. I am not a lawyer. But I think your chances in court are slim. And in effect by filing a lawsuit you are admiting to loan fraud. Also my understanding is verbal agreements in real estate are not enforceable in court.

Also I think their is a good chance your realtor will lose their license.

I understand that you want to do things based on principle. But it looks like the person that will be hurt by this is your realtor. And it seems they are trying to do the right thing by repaying you the $1550. I think it would be kind of sad if your realtor lost their license over this.

[BarryC]

I just can't believe that both agents thought that this would be ok. Time to go back to school for some refresher courses.