When renting a house with option to buy,are any papers needed?Do you need a lawyer?
Is it better not to sign any papers & have no lawyer involved just in case you decide not to buy the house.The owner/seller is completely trustworthy.Thank you
Answers:
You DO NOT need an attorney for drawing up papers for this kind of deal. Nor do you need an attorney for them to be legal in a court in case of a breach of contract. I am an Independent Law Clerk and do these quite often. Forms can be found online or at your local library and you can modify them to fit your situation. It is best however to have the documents notarized which means that you and the person who owns the house would have to go together to have that done as the notary cannot legally notarize the documents unless you both are present. The inconvenience of this particular way of doing this overrides the HORRIBLE costs of an attorney.
You need papers (written contract) and you need a real estate lawyer to review them.
The civil courts are filled with completely trustworthy people.
All matters involving agreements for the sale of real estate, including renting with an option to buy, should be in writing. This takes it out of the "he said, she said" stage. It is also in conformity with the statute of frauds.
You say that the owner / seller is trustworthy. I'm sorry, I don't even trust people who are members of my own church in matters involving money. I would want it in writing. It avoids "misunderstandings." I am not saying that the owner / seller is going to cheat your. I am just saying that the owner / seller may have a different understanding of what the oral agreement was.
Besides, if you have a written agreement, you can look to the courts to compel enforcement of that agreement.
This is real estate ... speak to a lawyer and get it in writing. You cannot take any chances.
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