Definition of "Duress"

Glory Bee Costa real estate agent

Written by

Glory Bee Costaelite badge icon

Keller Williams Select Realtors

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.

Comments for Duress

Grace Grace said:

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  23:25:44

 
Real Estate Agent

Hello! 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  16:14:05
 
 
image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

The term proxy comes from the power of attorney by which the holder of stockholders in a real estate company transfers voting rights to another stockholder. A proxy fight may arise in which ...

A 12-month period used by a real estate company or partnership to account for and report business operations. Typically, the fiscal year ends December 31. ...

Unit of measure for the change in interest rates for loans. One basis point equates to 1 percent of 1 percent, that is, 0.01 percent. Therefore, one hundred basis points equals 1 percent. ...

Real estate bought and leased to tenants to obtain rental income. ...

In conducting a real estate transaction, each party is presumed honest and fair with no deceit. The intentions are honorable and realistic. If deception occurs without prior knowledge, the ...

An order withdrawing a property lien after a claim is paid by other means. ...

Legal responsibility for something. For example, an owner of commercial property (e.g., restaurant) is legally obligated for damages on that property (e.g., restaurant patron falls and ...

Contract that intends to convey property form one individual to another but is defective in one respect. ...

Process by which a lessee leases the property to another lessee. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions