Fred,
Are you sure the buyers are being advised by an attorney. If they are and you are not I certainly would not take any advise from Realtors. Attorneys are not that expensive when we are talking about losing a property or having a foreclosure on your credit file.
I will not give you legal Real Estate advice as I can not as a Realtor. I will give you some run of the mill Truth in Lending advice - any contract that has the wrong information as to the payments and interest can be declared a paid up in full contract. Now do you see why you need an attorney.
We as Realtors in Texas are told not to do Lease purchase or Lease option contracts with out the assist of an attorney, therefore I think it would be very dangerous for anyone else to attempt to do so.

Good Luck

Margaret

I think that it has been made abundantly clear to consult an attorney. Most attorneys will do a free consultation with potential clients. At that point they will make a determination if the case is worth taking. Within the first meeting an attorney usually will be able to give you a good idea of whether or not you have a good case. If you need the name of an attorney please feel free to email me. CONSULT AN ATTORNEY! You can not afford foreclosure. Start the eviction process.

Lynn is correct. You need to start the eviction and get hold of the property quickly either to move in or sell to reduce you losses. You can not waist time in texas because the foreclosure time is very short. Action needs to be taken immediately to mitigate your loss.


An attorney may be worth the investment, because your trading time for money and your time is short with little time to waist!

You own the property till mortgage is paid in full you are held responsible to make payments till title is transferred to buyer.

SORRY TO HEAR about this HOWEVER what does the executed contract state breach of not making payments. This governs what you can do against party residing in the home. It must be followed per those terms

I would start eviction notice immediately, you might be able to do a land lord lien.

Dallas Realtor and Consultant, Mortgage Loan Officer, Lecturer regarding Credit Repair
– Lynn A. Crosby

Fred,
We esentially outlawed lease/purchase in Texas two years ago. Most of the good attorney's say don't do it exactly for this reason. There are much bigger issues than just losing the house these days. Some lenders are going after people for fraud, if you have a mortgage on the house is it for owner/occupied property or investment property? I like Gary's advice. Go back to the attorney who drew up the agreement. If you did not use an attorney you need to get one pronto. We live and learn, but you don't want to go to jail over it. If I remember correctly the buyer may be able to file suit for 3x damages which could also mean big bucks. You don't show up or respond you might get default civil judgement that can follow you around for years....and just when you least need it or least suspect it, can jump up and bite you again.

Unfortunately, the reality is that most lease-purchase agreements don't work out. As realtors, we are prohibited by law in providing legal advice or counsel. Hopefully, you had an attorney draw up the lease purchase agreeement. If you did, consult that attorney. I agree with Sam that it would be far less expensive to consult an attorney rather than lose the house to foreclosure. An attorney could advise you as to whether or not you have any grounds for eviction since the "buyers" have stopped making payments. If you could legally evict them, that may enable you to rent the house to at least cover your mortgage payments. The bottom line is that you do need professional legal counsel ASAP.

What you cannot afford is an ugly foreclosure and loss of months of income. You need an attorney in this case. Call around, explain your situation, tell them you need specific financial estimates. Don't save pennies to lose dollars.