Is an exclusive rental management agreement binding once the original signer dies and the property is no longer an estate?
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Is an exclusive rental management agreement binding once the original signer dies and the property is no longer an estate?
Our property was left to my husband and his brother when their mother died. For a few years it operated under the mothers name DBA an estate. One brother decided he wanted nothing to do with the property so we legally went from an estate to being owned, out right by my husband. There was a management company in place at the time of my mother’s death. We kept working with the company
until recently when managements negligence almost lead to us losing the house. After terminating the management company, they are saying we owe money to them for the life of the lease. Having never signed an actual contract with the management company, we asked for a copy of the agreement. We received a contract from 13 years ago signed by mother. The wording on contract states,
Asked on May 16, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
A contract signed by person A does not bind person B, even if B ended up buying, inheriting, or otherwise taking over the contract, unless B actually agreed to be bound under the agreement: one person may *not* legally bind another. Based on what you write, when the property became your husband's, the contract was effectively terminated. By continuing to use the management company, you would be responsible to pay them for all working the actually *did* (you can't get another's work for free), but did so under an oral agreement, terminable at will: that is, you have to pay them up through when the agreement terminated, but not going on into the future after the termination of their represenation or management of your property.
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