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Am I legally responsible to sign over the deed? Since he never paid the $1, can the Agreement of Sale be voided?
Anonymous4 views2 answers
12 years ago I agreed to sell a piece of real estate to a friend of mine. I signed an Agreement of sale and the deed. The agreement was recorded in the Recorder of Deeds office in my county. The signed and notarized deed was misplaced and never recorded. Since then I am no longer a friend of the purchaser, in fact now he's more of an enemy. The sale agreement was for $1.00. He never did pay that $1.00. I received a letter from his attorney stating they will bring suit against me for refusing to sign a new copy of the deed.
Leslie A. MargoliesReal Estate AttorneyBlue Bell, PA ·
The failure to pay the one dollar is not sufficient by itself to invalidate the transfer. First of all, the dollar is usually just a symbolic gesture to indicate that there was consideration for the transaction. And most agreements will state something along the lines of .... "in consideration for one dollar, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged..." (meaning that you acknowledge receipt of the consideration). However, you may or may not be obligated to execute another deed depending upon the terms of the sales agreement. There is a good argument to be made that the recording of the deed was his responsibility and if he lost the original and all copies that is his problem and not yours. That puts you in a good bargaining position I would think to negotiate for additional consideration now that the friendship has dissolved. Most definitely, I suggest hiring a real estate attorney to negotiate this matter on your behalf.
