QUESTION
Can a plain paper with buyer name , signature and date ; sellers name and signature without witness and notarized be treated as legal document .
Asked on Jan 20th, 2018 on Breach of Contract - North Carolina
More details to this question:
I posted my car ad on Craigslist and accepted the offer that I will sell the car on 1st Feb at this price , I took the advance deposit of 500 . But now I don't want to sell the car as my job remains in the same city . I signed a plain paper with my name , signature and date , and the buyer name and signature . The document has no witness and notary . I tried returning his money but he is not taking his deposit money back . What ca n be done on this situation and if that document can be treated as legal document or bill of sale . Please advise
1 ANSWER
There is generally no need for a witness or notary to have a valid contract, but I assume there was more than just hte parties' names. There would need to be sufficiently definite terms,i.e. A is selling this car to B for this price on February 1. If these terms are not included, the paper itself may not be enough, but the buyer may be able to incorporate other writings (e.g. the correspondence between you) to flesh out the terms.
Answered on Jan 22nd, 2018 at 10:41 AM