Posted by Chris in Joshua Tree, CA on September 22, 2003 at 09:04:12:
Imagine there is no proof like a receipt for the purchase price. Henceforth it is recommended never to pay cash for high-value goods. Without the receipt, you are holding bad cards. (I gave away valuable goods on a promise - a check, even a bad one, would have helped proving the deal)
Buyer passed - Posted by Dave Fl.
Posted by Dave Fl. on September 20, 2003 at 13:23:12:
Sold a SW to a nice lady, she paid by check, full price, no financing. I was doing a couple repairs I had agreed to do before she moved in. I said I would not run the check till she was approved by the PM. She got approved and I cashed the check. Before we could finalize the deal and give the title to her, she died. Now I have a hand full of cash, a SW still in my name, and a daughter who won’t take the title cuz she doesn’t want the SW, she wants the cash back. Well, it wasn’t her cash to start with, and her mother and I had a deal agreed to that we were all happy with. I want to do whats right but I don’t want to be pressured into giving up whats legally mine. What do you folks think?
Thanks, Dave Fl.
Re: Buyer passed - Posted by Dave Fl.
Posted by Dave Fl. on September 21, 2003 at 05:42:51:
Thank you all for your opinions. I think I will do as you suggest and send the title to their attorney. That seems to be the best action.
Dave Fl.
Don’t buy it back! - Posted by John Smith, IV
Posted by John Smith, IV on September 20, 2003 at 22:06:49:
Sounds to me that the deal is done.
Now the mobile home belongs to the deceased estate.
If you just give the title to the daughter you could be in hot legal waters.
How do you know there are no other heirs?
You couldn’t even give the money back to the daughter that would probably be legally wrong as well.
You tell the daugther that you need to know who is the lawyer who is going to handle the estate.
You send the title to him, and let him deal with you.
You can also make an offer to the lawyer that you will buy the MH back for say 25-50% of the price you got for it. If the estate sells it back to you, you do another lonnie deal again.
Don’t buy back directly from the daughter, there could be other involved parties.
Don’t give the money back to her.
Don’t give the MH to her.
I know very little but… - Posted by Philip
Posted by Philip on September 20, 2003 at 15:15:03:
these 2 guys are right on. Relatives swoop in for the cash when something happens.
It is currently happening to my great aunt. She has been moved into a home and the “kids” are fighting over stuff. These are 60 - something year old kids.
I would give a very small sum of money to re-purchase
the mobile and tell her that is more than I have to do.
I can’t stand it when folks do that vulture thing. Let them go earn the money like you did.
Philip
who’s gonna be in control? - Posted by Steve-WA
Posted by Steve-WA on September 20, 2003 at 14:27:26:
The daughter is entitled to the title, and the title alone. The cash has been deposited with the investors, and has been used to pay bills - there is no cash to give back. If she wishes, you might be willing to offer to purchase the MH from her at a low wholesale price, but you surely are low on cash, and also have others that you are considering . . .
I understand the situation, but when confronted with a conundrum like this, ask yourself what I always ask myself:
What would a bank do?
Do that . . . business is business.
Re: who’s gonna be in control? - Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV
Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV on September 20, 2003 at 14:57:12:
Steve, I don’t think the daughter has any rights at this time, absent a will, unlesss a court says so. She may be in line for intestate succession but I wouldn’t think she is entitled to the title yet or could sell it back at this point in time.
Regards, doc
you are probably right - Posted by Steve-WA
Posted by Steve-WA on September 20, 2003 at 19:18:05:
I usually go with my gut - and my gut says that Ken sold mama the MH, the deal is done, and as an heiress, she inherits what mama had - the MH. Of course there’s the whole probate issue, and estate stuff, and she may in fact be the inheritress of nothing, but the deal is done, as I see it.
Re: you are probably right - Posted by Dave-WA
Posted by Dave-WA on September 20, 2003 at 19:41:37:
I don’t know anything about the law but I agree with Steve in that this sounds like a done deal even though the title does not yet reflect the new owner.
How about sending the title of the MH to the executor and let them worry about it?
Re: you are probably right - Posted by Eddie-Mi
Posted by Eddie-Mi on September 20, 2003 at 19:30:58:
I am gonna take the other side on this.
The deal is not done. The title was never transferred. The deal was never finalized. The money should be returned to the lady. Since she is dead, the money will go to the estate.
Remember The Devil took the other side too. - Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV
Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV on September 21, 2003 at 24:50:17:
I gotta disagree with you Eddie. The paper title is not the legal ownership to the mobile home. It is only EVIDENCE of the ownership that was transferred when both parties fully performed their agreement. There can be other kinds of evidence of ownership such as your contract or testimonial evidence. If it were the one and only way to prove ownership, who gets the mobile home if the title is lost?
What if you have a bank loan on a mobile home and the bank is holding the title pursuant to your agreement which provided that the title reverts back to you when the last paymant has been made. If the bank loses the title or delays in sending it to you who is the legal owner in the interim, the bank? Not on your life. If the mobile burns down during that period do you think the bank will reimburse you? Don’t hold your breath. The title is only a piece of paper evidence of ownership. OWNERSHIP is what we are concerned about in this string, not title. The lady became the owner when all of the terms and conditions precedent to change of ownership were completed, not when the paper title was to be delivered.
Regards, doc
Re: you are probably right - Posted by John Smith, IV
Posted by John Smith, IV on September 20, 2003 at 22:01:56:
I don’t think so, it was a done deal. Just because the title was not finished, it doesn’t mean the deal wasn’t done.
Was the paper work all signed by her?
If it was, deal is done.
How about if you close on a house and the title company doesn’t send the paper work until 2 days later to the county recorders office and you die in the mean time.
The deal was done, just the title had never properly been transfered.