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Sat 24 Jun, 2017 11:06 am
I will try to briefly sum it up for you. Almost 21 years ago, I made a contract to pay off my house in 20 years of monthly payments. During the last few years we began to get stories about how the deed holder attempts to renege on the contract. One person hung in there for a year before getting a deed. Other similar stories circulate. I made a miscalculation a few years ago and figured our final payment should be in July 2017. At the end of 2016 he sent our yearly statement showing us to still owe in the thousands. As the month of July got close, I recalculated our payments and discovered we actually made ten payments too many. The man would have had us paying until we died, if we were stupid enough.
I contacted a lawyer, who advised me to get him to present a detailed statement of how he has figured my account. I sent him a certified letter. A week after he received the letter he had not replied at all. I have sent him a second certified letter and will continue to do so for a time. The last letter re-enforced my request for that information, but also demanded a refund and the deed.
We kept all of the information and correspondence from the beginning, making a fat folder to turn over to the lawyer. I would prefer to get the deed without resorting to the lawyer, but he has already expressed a willingness to help if need be.
@edgarblythe,
Contact the city or town where the property is, at least to get their documentation of who they think owns the property and any liens they see on it. I think you are going to have to work with the lawyer on this one, but it will probably cost a bit less if you have done some of the legwork yourself.
@jespah,
Thanks. I will give it a shot.
@edgarblythe,
Is this a land contract?
Did you have a signed contract? Or did you just create an amortization plan and he has been accepting payments according to YOUR calclations?
@PUNKEY,
I have a contract made by the original seller, for 240 equal payments for the house and lot. His other customers had to fight for their deeds, but the ones familiar to me did get them. This is a nice lot, for a mobile home subdivision. Big, and it buttes in the back to a cul de sac of a very nice neighborhood.
I dropped the name of my lawyer in one of my communications, then played a waiting game. Friday, I received a letter stating he will send my deed ASAP.
@edgarblythe,
Congratulations on paying off your house 🎉🎈I hope you get your deed promptly without any additional footdragging from this guy. I know this is an antiquated notion, but it's so dishonorable to cheat people.
@edgarblythe,
Very good to read today, EB. Hug to you both..
Thanks, peoples. I remember the day I signed the contract to buy. I said to the wife, "I will be over seventy. I hope nothing happens to us between now and the end."
@edgarblythe,
Awesome! Mine will be paid off in 2019 and I think it will be a relief not to have that payment to make.
@TomTomBinks,
In my case, the payments included taxes and trash pickup, and homeowners insurance, at a low monthly cost. Gonna miss that part.
@edgarblythe,
Now that your a landowner, you have the privilege of paying taxes until the day you die!
@TomTomBinks,
Which by the way I hope to do for many years to come.
@edgarblythe,
Shop around for the homeowners insurance and read the fine print. We switched company's about 11 years ago when our agent retired and I much cotton the agent who took over. Ultimately we wound up spending a little more but we have much better coverage. We have the homeowners plus a blanket policy and riders for some valuables. I hope I never have to use it, but now just about everything is covered. It would have been cheaper if I just switched to a similar policy, but even the similar policy covered more than my other company.
@TomTomBinks,
It is an
enormous relief - we paid ours off a few years ago and God knows I don't miss it.
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