[desiann6410]

We leased the hunting rights to our property for 1 year for $1000.00 to a local man, he gave us the money, but never produced the contract we were supposed to sign. Now he has people here that we don't want on our property. We would like to give him his money back thus taking away his hunting rights. We live in Ohio, and my question is, is the verbal agreement binding, can he take us to court on it, or can he refuse to take the money back?

[AK lawyer]

It looks to me that the $1,000 was a deposit toward a proposed contract that was never finalized. It's different from a verbal agreement: it was agreed that there would be a written contract for you to agree to or not agree to. Since he failed to deliver such a written draft contract, there is no contract. Give him the money back and tell him he has no deal.

[desiann6410]

We leased the hunting rights to our property for 1 year for $1000.00 to a local man, he gave us the money, but never produced the contract we were supposed to sign. Now he has people here that we don't want on our property. We would like to give him his money back thus taking away his hunting rights. We live in Ohio, and my question is, is the verbal agreement binding, can he take us to court on it, or can he refuse to take the money back?

Add: We cannot come up with the money for a few weeks, what if he suddenly brings this contract and asks us to sign it? Can we refuse without getting in legal trouble?

[AK lawyer]

Add: We cannot come up with the money for a few weeks, what if he suddenly brings this contract and asks us to sign it? Can we refuse without getting in legal trouble?

No. You have not agreed to the terms of the contract. He cannot force you to agree.

You see, that's what written contracts are for: to see what exactly was agreed to. For example, the first question I would ask is whether these hunting rights are assignable. It's one thing to let him hunt on your land, but did you agree that he could bring Tom, and his cousin Harry hunt there too? How many people could use these hunting rights? In reviewing a written contract, you could quibble over questions of this nature. You might say, for example, "I don't like this part of the contract document; please change it." Or you could make your own text and offer him that. Often contract negotiations can take months or even years. So you don't have an agreement until you have agreed on all the terms and both of you have signed it.

You shouldn't have spent the money until the contract was concluded but as a practical matter there is nothing he can do about it in "a few weeks". Is this sort of thing likely to happen again? If so, have a draft contract ready to go.

Lesson for him: don't pay money up front unless you have something in writing.