Real Estate Contracts in Oklahoma

The fundamental requirements for forming a binding legal contract are:

  • an offer,

  • acceptance, and

  • consideration

To be enforceable, a legal contract must be formed by competent parties, who give their consent, to a legal agreement. A party may be excused from performing under a legal contract by proving a defense contract breach. Such defenses include duress, fraud and misrepresentation, mistake, lack of consideration, and the statute of frauds. 

In Oklahoma, a prospective Buyer's offer to purchase is made in the form of a contract and bound with a deposit on the purchase price (earnest money).  The offer will set out conditions under which the buyer may withdraw the offer without forfeiting the earnest money.  Typically conditions are, ability to obtain satisfactory financing, appraisal, clear title, inspections, and survey indicating that the structure on the property was legally built.  Once the conditions have been met, or waived, the buyer is said to have "equitable title" and the conveyance of the property from seller to buyer is expected to proceed. At this point, if buyer or seller does not appear at the closing to sign legal documents, earnest money is typically forfeited, and courts may force the transfer through a suite of specific performance.  

The Statute of Frauds is from a 1677 English law that provides the basis for current requirement that some contracts must be in writing to be enforceable.   The goal of written contract rules is to  avoid fraud by requiring written proof of the underlying agreement.

In Oklahoma, the following types of contracts need to be executed in writing:

  1. contracts that take longer than one year to complete; 
  2. agreements to pay someone else's debts, except in the case provided for in the article on guaranty;
  3. an agreement made upon consideration of marriage, other than a mutual promise to marry
  4. real estate sales or real estate leases for longer than one year;
  5. contract establishing single-party brokerage relationship

OS 15 2-136 Statute of frauds
A lease contract is not enforceable unless:

    1. the total payments to be made under the lease contract, excluding payments for options to renew or buy, are less than $1,000.00; or

    2. there is a written, executed document to describe the lease, what is being leased and the least term.  

OS 12 (UCC) 2A-201 Leases Statute of Frauds


 

 

 

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