Posted on: 28th Oct, 2009 12:22 pm
my husband and i thought we were buying a home from a private investor. when we tried to refinance we found out that the contract to buy was actually a lease with the option to buy. we have been paying the taxes yearly on the house and i believe the deed is in our name. is this legal?
Hi leahconner,
If you leased the property with an option to buy, then you must have signed an agreement with the seller. Don't you have the agreement with you? You should check it out first. If not, then you can contact a real estate attorney and take his opinion as to what steps you need to take.
If you leased the property with an option to buy, then you must have signed an agreement with the seller. Don't you have the agreement with you? You should check it out first. If not, then you can contact a real estate attorney and take his opinion as to what steps you need to take.
>>and I believe the deed is in our name.
Then you own the house, and that's a bad position for the Investor to be in.
Review the current recorded Title and you'll see who really owns the house. I'd be surprised if Title was in just you and your husbands' names. It sounds very similar to a "land contract" deal, and if it is, somebody elses name will be on Title too. No worries if it is though, just adhere to the contract and do what it says you'll need to do to get the Note and Title into your names exclusively.
Then you own the house, and that's a bad position for the Investor to be in.
Review the current recorded Title and you'll see who really owns the house. I'd be surprised if Title was in just you and your husbands' names. It sounds very similar to a "land contract" deal, and if it is, somebody elses name will be on Title too. No worries if it is though, just adhere to the contract and do what it says you'll need to do to get the Note and Title into your names exclusively.
>>and I believe the deed is in our name.
Then you own the house, and that's a bad position for the Investor to be in.
Review the current recorded Title and you'll see who really owns the house. I'd be surprised if Title was in just you and your husbands' names. It sounds very similar to a "land contract" deal, and if it is, somebody elses name will be on Title too. No worries if it is though, just adhere to the contract and do what it says you'll need to do to get the Note and Title into your names exclusively.
Oh, I just remembered this, whoever is on Title is going to be mentioned on your annual property tax statement too. But it's still best to go down to the courthouse and get a copy of the actual recorded Title.
Then you own the house, and that's a bad position for the Investor to be in.
Review the current recorded Title and you'll see who really owns the house. I'd be surprised if Title was in just you and your husbands' names. It sounds very similar to a "land contract" deal, and if it is, somebody elses name will be on Title too. No worries if it is though, just adhere to the contract and do what it says you'll need to do to get the Note and Title into your names exclusively.
Oh, I just remembered this, whoever is on Title is going to be mentioned on your annual property tax statement too. But it's still best to go down to the courthouse and get a copy of the actual recorded Title.
