In Illinois – my sister and I just sold my mother’s house. The ‘agent’ who handled the contract with the buyer did not have us sign the contract nor did we see it. He just told us what the price was.
The real estate taxes were not out yet at the time of the sale so we had not yet paid the 2011 taxes on the property so we gave the buyer a credit based on an estimate of what the taxes would be (also based on the 2010 taxes). We also gave them a credit for the first part of the 2012 year based on this same rate.
Here is the question – apparently there was a clause in the contract the agent had the buyer sign that said if the taxes ended up being more than 5% higher than what was estimated we would pay the difference. We were never told of this nor did we sign this contract.
Are we still responsible for paying this? The house has sold and is in the new buyers name (they received the tax bill).
If you didn't sign a contract, how could you be held liable? Unless you invested him with all decision making authority in a signed statement, it would seem to me that you have no worries. Are you concerned that the taxes will be higher? I would imagine they would be lower with the drop in property values across the nation. Our taxes dropped last year due to that very thing.
ReplyDeleteNo he did not have any signed authority. Actually the taxes have come back higher - significally - but this is Illinois we are talking about - they are broke and have raised the taxes on everything to try to dig themselves out of debt.
ReplyDeleteOh, right, Obama country. Sounds familiar. Seriously, I am politically neutral. I don't believe anyone knows how to solve the problems. But for your situation, I would do a sit down with a lawyer. The first visit is usually free. Go with all your facts and papers. And won't you be glad when this whole thing is over?
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