Indiana real estate buyers - get it in writing.

        Indiana's court of appeals rendered a Crawfordsville pizza owner's land contract no good. The buyer and the seller did have a written contract. The pizza operator was to buy the real estate where it did business on contract. The written deal required payments to the seller for just under 3 years. After 3 years the buyer was to pay off the balance of the purchase price, what is called a balloon payment.

       The pizza operator did not make the final payment. He argued that there was an oral agreement to extend the loan. The seller disagreed. The court ruled that all land sale contracts AND any modifications to those contracts MUST be in writing. This according to Indiana's Statute of Frauds.

       Any real estate buyer, especially one getting financing from the seller, should demand that all negotiations be done in writing.

The case is Huber v. Hamilton (2015)