CONTRACT TO PURCHASE GOES PECULIAR

Bob Jones didn’t want to sell his property, but he needed the money, so when Ichabod Investor came along, they did a deal…allegedly.  Ichabod allegedly paid Bob $5,000 and allegedly signed a Contract to Purchase Bob’s property for $100,000, but there was no specific timeframe for the closing. Ichabod recorded a mortgage for $100,000 without Bob Jones’ consent.  Ichabod had set himself up as the sole Trustee for the Bob Jones Land Trust.  Bob Jones found out and freaked out.  Ichabod released the mortgage, but he recorded the Notice of Contract.  

Ten years went by.

Bob Jones died.  

No one has the original Contract.  

Bob Jones’ granddaughter Sally wants to buy her grandfather’s property from the estate, but Ichabod shows up with a copy of the Contract to Purchase.  Sally says the signature doesn’t look like her grandfather’s signature, and even if he had signed it, it would’ve been under duress.  Ichabod wants $70,000 to release the Contract.  

Sally’s attorney settles for the $70,000.  This appears to be a Slander of Title with a Wild Deed, with potential damages—there was no deed to the trust, which clouds the title.  However, by the time and expense it would take Sally to fight it, her attorney advised her to pay the $70,000.  

Here is where a Memorandum of Contract is cleaner.  It is a notice to the public record that a deal is in the works, but hasn’t been finalized.  It protects the buyer from having the property sold to someone else before the transaction has been completed.  Also, an expiration date before Bob Jones expired would have been helpful too.  

From Land Title Talk Podcast

October 16, 2025