Q: Hello I bought an item off someone and now they want it back. Do I have to give it back?
Hello I bought an item off someone and now they want it back. I got him to sign a make shift document with a copy of his id, price of the transaction, name of item, date with his signature. Are there any laws that makes me give his item back, or any legal things that I should know about?
A: Unless your contract called for some kind of return policy, or the transaction was highly questionable, there is no legal basis to force you to return the item. Keep this in mind, a contract can be entirely oral. If you and I are talking and I say "hey, I really like that watch," and then you say "well, I will sell it to you for $50," and then I say "it's a deal," and then the money and the watch are exchanged, we do have a contract. Now, if it turns out later that I knew the watch is an antique worth $50,000, a court might nullify that contract because I failed to negotiate in good faith and order me to return the watch. Similarly, if you were hesitant to sell the watch and I said "tell you what, sell it to me today and if you decide you want it back in the next week you can have it back for the $50 I paid," and that deal was accepted, we again have a contract, but this time there is a provision requiring me to give you back the watch, if you return the $50 within the next week.
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