Definition of "Duress"
Act of forcing an individual or business to do something against their will. It is a legitimate defense in court to reserve the effect of the compelled act.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Branch of the federal government responsible for collecting taxes including personal and corporate. The IRS administers tax rules and regulations, and investigates tax irregularities. ...
An easement granted to a public utility. ...
Within Real Estate, “nuisance” is a term used to describe any disturbance that might affect neighboring houses. Nuisance abatement is the enforcing of policies and codes that ...
Mortgage for an extended time period (e.g., 25 years) Type of real estate investment trust (REIT) that gives long-term mortgages to real estate developers and contractors on new or ...
Square footage of space a parcel of land has. ...
Database program that has real estate listings including property photographs. Real estate computer software allows real estate agents and brokers to search for a particular listing by ...
Material used for covering the surfaces of walls or ceilings. Plaster used to be made from plaster of paris, but is now primarily made from cement mixed with sand and water. After plaster ...
An individual appointed by a court to manage the affairs and property of a legally incompetent party. The conservator has full decision-making authority over the affairs of the property in ...
Street having access only at one end and terminating with a circular turnaround area. The circular area permits automobiles to exit the street without having to use a home's driveway to ...
Comments for Duress
I would like to know why a law does not exist that forces real estate agents to say to vendors to take sale contract home or to their lawyers to verify. They always place contracts in front of people and point a finger to the signatory spor and say "sign here". I once said "I need to take contract home to think about it" and the agent immediately said "No, you can't, the purchaser will place an offer elsewhere". Is this action not considered duress. They are pushy and play on people's emotions.
Aug 20, 2019 23:25:44Hello! Thank you for bringing up this issue. There must be clients who have the same question. However, the answer is quite simple. Don't go alone! Whenever you have to sign a contract, ask a professional to join you - ideally, a lawyer. There is a lot of jargon and many real estate terms that you may not fully understand. If you want to study the contract, I'm sure that nobody would mind if you actually took the time to read it. If they didn't feel comfortable with this, then it would be a good idea to leave and do business with somebody else. Contracts are very powerful documents and both parties must know exactly what they are getting themselves into. As for the fact that agents play on people's emotions, this is true for all businesses. Emotions are the essence of marketing.
Aug 26, 2019 16:14:05Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.