My father purchased a plot in rural Maharastra in 1984. He passed away in 2013. After succession certificate i got the plot in name of my mother & me (i have no siblings). There is one agent who helped us get saath baara (7/12) and he made a MOU with my mother in 2018 in Marathi claiming that this paper will help him maintain the plot on our behalf. The MOU is not notarized but has our signatures & finger prints. My mother who trusted him signed & made me sign too. There is one clause where it stated that whenever in future we wish to sell the plot it has to be sold only to him. We did not know about this clause. When we wanted to sell the plot in 2024 we asked him his best offer. His offer was unreasonably low in price. Finally we found a good buyer & we sold the plot. The saath baara (7/12) has come in name of new buyer. But now after 7 months we got notice from this agent's lawyer that we were obliged to sell him the plot as per the paper signed in 2018 & we should reverse the deal & surrender the plot to him.
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You should take the defence that you were willing to sell the plot to agent but he refused to pay the market price
you cannot be expected to sell the plot at a pittance
further MOU was signed in Marathi and you are not fluent in said language and you and mother were fraudulently deceived by agent to signing said MOU
You can issue a reply notice denying his allegations and can challenge the unregistered paper containing the alleged contents to sell the property.
It is not enforceable in law especially it is not even an agreement except it is a MOU which cannot be encouraged by court for any reason.
You can discuss with your advocate and give a proper reply refuting the claims made by him.
If he files any case then you can contest it. Right now let him take the first move
Dear Client, kindly note the following points,
The 2018 MOU is not registered and therefore probably not legally enforceable, particularly because you did not know about the restrictive clause. You had sold the plot to a bona fide purchaser at a reasonable price, and the 7/12 stands in the purchaser's name, evidencing valid transfer. The agent's attempt to set aside the sale under the MOU will most likely fail in court as the MOU is unregistered and not notarised to be valid at the court. You are not bound by law to sell the plot to the agent at present. You are advised to reply to the notice of the lawyer refusing the claim and take legal advice to safeguard your sale.
It is not clear whether said agent paid any consideration for execution of agreement. If no consideration is paid, the agreement is null, void and unenforceable against you. Reply to notice appropriately, let him go to Court, no need to settle, his case will not stand.
Advocate Ravi Shinde. Thank you for your reply. Please help me understand what you meant by "paid any consideration" ? Are you implying any money paid to us ? The answer is no. We have never received any money from the agent. Looking forward to your clarification. Thank you.
Sale consideration means payment of money
The 2018 MOU signed with the agent is not notarized, no consideration was paid, and it was signed under misrepresentation. This makes it legally weak and likely unenforceable.
A clause restricting future sale without valid consideration has no legal standing.
Since you sold the plot lawfully and the 7/12 is updated, the new buyer has legal title.
The agent cannot force cancellation of a registered sale without court orders, and he has no ownership rights.
✅ Respond to the legal notice via a lawyer stating:
No money was paid.
The MOU was not explained fully and is voidable.
The sale was lawful and registered.
it is difficult to believe that you did not know about the clause in the MOU in which you were made to agree that if the plot is to be sold then it should be offered first to the agent
now that you have sold the plot, you do not need to do anything
you may or may not reply to the legal notice issued to you
however for keeping the records straight the legal notice should be replied stating the correct facts that in spite of signing the MOU, it was never the intention of the owner that when he sells the property it will be first offered to this agent
it is for the agent to now take legal steps by filing a suit for specific performance of contract against you
if and when any such suit is filed, you will get the court summons and then you can put in your written statement and contest the suit
it will take years for the suit to be finally decided
The MOU is not a sale agreement neither it is enforceable in court of law.
If there was no sale consideration amount was passed between him and you then there is no grounds for his claim towards the property.
You can discuss with your advocate and take appropriate legal action to deny his claim
- As per Section 10 of the Indian Contract Act, all agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of the parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object and are not expressly declared to be void.
- Further, a MOU is a statement of understanding between two or more parties which when made has no enforceability in the eyes of law , as such an agreement has no intention to create a legal bond between such persons.
- But , when an MOU has been made as per section 10 of the Indian contract Act, then it is a valid agreement.
- Further , no stamp duty is required on MOU, but if the MOU for an agreement to purchase or sell an immovable property worth more than Rs. 100/- , then it is mandatory to be registered and stamped .
- Hence, if the said MOU is not registered and stamped , then it is not a valid document to be produced in the court.
- Yes, send a reply to him that there is no contract as the said MOU is not registered and was executed frequently.
Under Section 25, any agreement under there is no passing of consideration/money is null and void. Agen is playing mind games against you. If you have not receive any money, he cannot get the mou enforced against you. You can refer to Section 25 of Indian Contract Act, is worded in simple language. Under contract there is no such transaction as MOU, it is only an understanding, on the basis of such MOU an agreement needs to executed subsequently.
Best of luck