Now I have seen it all

It is irrelevant. A contract to purchase land, under the Statute of Frauds, must be in writing. That coupled with the fact that the contract must be between the owner of the land and purchaser and not prospective purchasers.

I do agree that the realtor is an idiot and could have had a sale and re-couped some costs within a few days, but most of the realtors I know are idiots so........

If he is a local realtor, he will probably regret that decision within the next year.

Karma's a bitch.

Life Rule No. 1. Never trust a Realtor.

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Kris Morgan, post: 439745, member: 29 wrote: It is irrelevant. A contract to purchase land, under the Statute of Frauds, must be in writing. That coupled with the fact that the contract must be between the owner of the land and purchaser and not prospective purchasers.........

In Oklahoma there have been several cases litigated wherein the county auctions property for back taxes without actually possessing the property (issuance of a "Sheriff's Deed"). Our legislature has customized the laws to allow this practice to continue with some "fine tuned" paperwork.

Still, most "purchases" of property under the delinquent tax statutes are burdened by a "two year right of redemption" clause for the titled owner and most need quiet title action for the purchaser to eventually obtain "clear and marketable" title. It's clear as mud.

Reputation is what most professional people sell. I can think of one local banker who lost a tremendous amount of business from those who witnessed something very similar happen at a land auction. In that case, several local farmers made bids at the public auction until one was standing alone. The local banker was present but did not bid. This was a foreclosure sale with a remote lender involved. A few days after the sale the local banker approached the guy holding the redemption rights, paid him a nominal amount of money for them, then paid off the debt to the remote lender to become the new owner and void the action that had occurred at the open auction. That was 30 years ago. The grudge is still very strong with those local farmers who are still alive.

paden cash, post: 439752, member: 20 wrote: In Oklahoma there have been several cases litigated wherein the county auctions property for back taxes without actually possessing the property (issuance of a "Sheriff's Deed"). Our legislature has customized the laws to allow this practice to continue with some "fine tuned" paperwork.

Still, most "purchases" of property under the delinquent tax statutes are burdened by a "two year right of redemption" clause for the titled owner and most need quiet title action for the purchaser to eventually obtain "clear and marketable" title. It's clear as mud.

Yes Texas is similar in that 2 year period. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the sale after the sale issue. 🙂

Was there not a 10 day upset bid period?

There's an old blow hard attorney here in town that "supplements" his income by wheeling and dealing with real estate. His office is three doors down from the courthouse and he is a permanent fixture at the Sheriff's auctions that still occur on the steps of the courthouse.

He is rather "well connected" with the powers that be and has ruffled feathers for as long as he's drawn a full breath around here. One story goes about his desire to pick up a particularly sweet piece of property at sale but found out there were other "outside" interests that were planning on out bidding him.

He noticed the "outside" party had parked in a questionable area adjacent to the then county jail. A few quick phone calls brought the cavalry to impound the car and said "outside" party missed the auction while he was arguing with the tow truck driver. 😉

All in a normal day in small town 'Merica.

I am in Louisiana, which is the only state I am aware of that does not have the Statute of Frauds which would require it in writing, and which does allow verbal contracts.

Frank Willis, post: 439771, member: 472 wrote: I am in Louisiana, which is the only state I am aware of that does not have the Statute of Frauds which would require it in writing, and which does allow verbal contracts.

Well I'll be! I didn't know that. Color me wrong! From an excerpt of a legal article about the subject:
The Statute of Frauds has been enacted in form similar to the seventeenth-century act in every state but Maryland and New Mexico, where judicial decisions have given it legal effect, and Louisiana. With minor exceptions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, the laws all embrace the same categories of contracts that are required to be in writing. Early in the twentieth century, Section 17 was replaced by a section of the Uniform Sales Act, and this in turn has now been replaced by provisions in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).

I'd say, based on that, that the guy should sue the realtor for performance under verbal contract.

Kris Morgan, post: 439780, member: 29 wrote: Well I'll be! I didn't know that. Color me wrong!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Louisiana

Whenever something just seems counter intuitive: Louisiana law, the metric system, aging cheese until it runs off the plate, etc. there is usually one common denominator. The French.

There are three things, young gentlemen, which you are constantly to bear in mind. Firstly, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman, as you do the devil.

• Horatio Nelson's advice to his Midshipmen

I'm surprised that no one has raised the issue of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the auctioning party.