Half Paid, Half Owed: legal Options for Unfulfilled Land Deals

I sold a piece of land to an acquittance sometime in 2020 for GH100,000.00. it was orally agreed that following payment of the initial deposit of GH50,000, he (the buyer) would be given one month to settle the outstanding balance. it has been a year and he has yet to settle the outstanding of GH50,000.

I prompted him on the need to settle the balance, but he refuses to heed my call.

Can I resell this land and settle the deposit paid by the buyer.

Please advise

Nana Serwaa

Kumasi.

Dear Nana Serwaa, under the law, a seller of land passes and transfers his legal rights and title to the buyer  upon completion of  sale. 

And while land transaction or contract shares much in common with a normal contract-because it involves an offer, acceptance, consideration and intention to create legal relations – contracts for the sale of land have some special features or peculiarities; for example there is the requirement for written evidence of the contract and part performance of same for the land contract to be enforced.

From your case, you are saying that the buyer has only paid GHC 50,000 out of the agreed price of GHC 100,000 and has since failed to pay up the balance, well beyond the agreed time for payment. You ask if as the seller or vendor you could sell the land to another person and then use the proceeds to refund the GHC 50,000 to the first buyer. 

To that my answer is, you may not have that power or right to take that unilateral decision without recourse to the buyer or by an action at the courts.

This is because of a distinguishing feature of contract for the sale of land: the rule that a purchaser, even before conveyance acquires equitable interest in the property. 

In other words, it is a basic principle of law that as soon as a valid contract of sale is executed, the vendor who retains the legal title becomes a trustee for the purchaser who is the equitable/beneficial owner until a formal conveyance/transfer is made.

Put differently, the beneficial or equitable interest in the land in question resides in the buyer due to the part performance or part payment; whiles you the seller or vendor, holds a bare legal title to the property, which you hold in trust for the buyer. 

Frankly, what you can do is to consider suing the buyer at the court to enforce the agreement and to recover and for an order for the buyer to pay the balance of GHC 50,000 to you; or to pray for the court to rescind  the sale agreement with the buyer on grounds of the breach of the buyer’s obligation, or to sue for the land in question to be resold and then refund the GHC 50,000 to the buyer. 

In case the court orders for the land to be resold, and if the amount realized is less than the purchase price, the court may award damages against the purchaser and in your favour as damages to compensate you. 

However, should it happen that the amount realized from the resale is more than the contract sum or amount paid by the purchaser, the court may order for the surplus be given to the purchaser depending on the circumstances. 

Disclaimer; note that the advice rendered here may  not be exhaustive. its  purpose is to serve as a primary guideline on the legal subject discussed.

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