Ryan v. Weiner

610 A.2d 1377 (1992)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

P is a retired 69-year-old man with a ninth-grade education. He worked as a laborer and subsists on a small pension and social security benefits. In 1971, P had purchased a house for $8,600. After 12 years of payments, P fell badly behind in his mortgage payments. The monthly payment was $98 per month at that time. By April 1984, he owed in excess of $1,000 in arrearages. A fair market value of the house was $19,800. The balance of the loan was less than $8,000. The mortgage lender instituted foreclosure proceedings and a default judgment in the amount of $7,843.26 was entered. A sheriff's sale was scheduled for June 12, 1984. D is a licensed real estate broker, on Sunday, May 13, 1984, arrived at P's home unannounced and informed P that he could help him keep his house. P understood that D offered to lend him the money to make up the back payments and to take a deed to secure repayment. D reports that he offered to buy the house and to let P continue to live in it as a tenant. The next day D drove P to D's lawyer to sign documents. P was never told he could seek counsel. P thought he was signing loan documents but signed a deed transferring the property to D. P says that he signed the documents without reading them because he trusted D's statements that the papers were loan documents. The deed recited $7,000 consideration, but P got nothing. The house belonged to D and P remained liable for the mortgage. A lease was executed for close to the original mortgage amount but was steadily increased from $100 a month to $310 per month. The mortgage payment also increased $93 in 1984 to $120 in 1991. P eventually stopped paying. D commenced an eviction. The court stayed to consider cancellation of the deed.