Commonsense says that it shouldn’t be possible to have a binding contract to buy a house or other land by email, but this may be possible in law. The legal requirements for a binding contract to buy/sell land are a written document incorporating all the terms agreed by the parties, and signed by all the parties – and Judges have already decided that typing your name on a string of emails can in law be treated as signing to this same extent as having signed a hard copy of the document.
So if you have a string of emails which set out the property you are buying, the price and the completion date and any other relevant terms, a Judge could easily decide it is a binding legal contract. It is unlikely but the relevant action to be taken is:
- if negotiating in relation to property (or any other contract) by email mark your emails “Subject to Contract”;
- try to avoid creating a string of emails;
- don’t type your name at the end of the email, rely upon the automatic sign off.
When in doubt, ask us, we are always happy to advise at the early stage of matters. Please contact Martin Addrison on 01234 858000 for further information.
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