Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-24-2014, 12:12 PM
 
18 posts, read 21,435 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Hi. I have posted a few times here already about a loft I recently purchased that the seller is currently occupying.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-...l#post36812435

The seller will continue to live in the loft but pay 8,000 a month in rental, while I pay maintenance and real estate taxes. My question is, the seller's attorney wrote this out on a new contract and we both informally signed it. Is it really valid just like this? We don't need to go to a notary to make it official? Right now it is just an amendment to the occupancy agreement that we both signed. Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-24-2014, 01:26 PM
 
8,539 posts, read 12,269,097 times
Reputation: 16432
What do you mean you "informally" signed it. If you both signed it, the contract is fully executed. No, you don't need it to be notarized for it to be official. (A document which is to be recorded needs to be notarized.)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 01:31 PM
 
18 posts, read 21,435 times
Reputation: 11
I just printed it up and he signed it. How can I prevent him from saying that he did not sign and the signature was forged? Also how do we know the pages before the signature page were not altered. I just thought it would be better to have it notarized and now I am concerned about the authenticity of the document and don't want to have a problem in the future.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 01:45 PM
 
5,444 posts, read 6,931,995 times
Reputation: 15145
IMO, whether it is notarized or not, you can always have problems in the future. Think of every lease agreement you have filled out, did you have those notarized? When you bought a car, did you have that notarized?

You have the signed document, that's all that should be needed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 01:48 PM
 
8,539 posts, read 12,269,097 times
Reputation: 16432
What you can do with multiple page contracts is to each initial every page. Otherwise, did you both get copies of the executed contract? That should serve as your assurance that the document is complete and unaltered. Yes, it can be better to have such a contract notarized, but it is not required to make it effective.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 01:54 PM
 
Location: Florida -
10,213 posts, read 14,744,041 times
Reputation: 21845
Since you already have an 'Occupancy Agreement', it would seem that the overall terms and conditions would be determined by that. Signing an 'Amendment' to the Occupancy Agreement only affirms that you have both approved of this additional 'amendment' or exception to the basic agreement. In that respect, it doesn't really constitute a separate agreement, but, rather is now only a stipulation of the overall OA. Unless the OA stipulates that any amendments/exceptions must be notarized and recorded, it seems to me that you have done all that is necessary.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 02:02 PM
 
18 posts, read 21,435 times
Reputation: 11
This was something separate that was prepared by the seller's attorney. A two page document. We did not attach it to the documents from the closing. Is that fine?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 02:08 PM
 
8,539 posts, read 12,269,097 times
Reputation: 16432
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimonH1 View Post
This was something separate that was prepared by the seller's attorney. A two page document. We did not attach it to the documents from the closing. Is that fine?
Was this a stand-alone document? (Meaning, did it cover the complete terms of the rental agreement?) Or was it merely an amendment to some parts of the prior contract? If so, it should reference the prior contract and would not need to be physically attached to it. So, yes, it sounds fine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 04:58 PM
 
51,584 posts, read 25,506,905 times
Reputation: 37760
You need your own attorney to review this document.

From now on, never sign a contract that your own attorney has not reviewed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2014, 05:37 PM
 
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,225,232 times
Reputation: 6468
My understanding that in most states a lease agreement does not need to be notarized to be valid. However many states allow a notice that a lease agreement exists to be recorded without providing the actual lease document for constructive notice to others.

I would also agree with others that you might want to speak with an attorney on the subject.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top