Seller Trying to Back Out

[Justin Hammond]

Hey guys,

I have a unique situation in American Fork, Utah. It's a vacant property, and after doing some skip-tracing I found that it went through probate. I contacted the executor of the estate and put the property under contract for $50,000. Interestingly enough, their plan was to be the end-buyer after we rehabbed it. Crazy!

Well, for whatever reason they changed their tune really fast and had their lawyer contact me. He said that they no longer want to try and buy the house back once it's remodeled. 

I told the lawyer, "That's fine, we will still close on the property and remodel it anyways." He seemed confused, and ended up admitting that he was unaware I had a purchase contract. 

I told him that of course I did! Why would I be discussing design options back and forth with the seller if I didn't have a legal interest in the property? 

Long story short, the sellers told their lawyer that they were unaware they had signed a purchase contract, and they thought they had just signed the borrower's authorization form to get the payoff amount from the lenders. They are claiming that I tricked them into signing a purchase agreement, even though we had a specific discussion about the purchase amount I was including in the agreement.

Furthermore, the lawyer told me that since the seller isn't the "owner" she's just the executor of the estate, that the contract is invalid.

I told the attorney that the contract doesn't say "owner", it says "seller", and she has a legal right to sell the property.

Anyways, I am seeking some advice on this. Is a contract invalid if signed by the executor? And how much force will they have by claiming that they were unaware of signing?

I am prepared to move forward on this deal, but only if it's a no-brainer that I have grounds.

Sorry for the long post, I'd appreciate any advice. And yes, I know I should talk to an attorney. I will. 

[Russell Brazil]

If someone does not want to sell the property, there is really very little you can do. People will chime in here and say get your lawyer involved...sue for specific performance.....however the people who I am sure will say that have very little experience with the subject.  Lawsuits for specific performance almost always go nowhere, and they cost you a lot of money. The threat of a lawsuit will actually have a lot more power than actually suing...but since they have a lawyer, that wont go anywhere.