I agreed to a 18 month lease with a buy option with the verbal understanding monies paid in addition to lease (rent $2300, additional $1,000 held in escrow to be applied to home sale) would be returned if unable to buy. The original premise was a straight one year rental for $2,300 per month. The owner/real estate agent made this offer verbally.

Due to current conditions, I cannot qualify to purchase home. Question, If I break lease after 12 months can I expect the overpayments $12,000 to be applied to the remaining 6 months on the lease. The contract does not address monies being repaid although agent specifically promised as much.

Anything, absolutely anything involving this amount of money and this type of transaction MUST BE ON PAPER. You can't expect the money they will hold in escrow for you will be applied to rent if you can't pay it. You are opening yourself up to a lot of heartache over this unless of course, you have it written into your lease contract, that if you can't pay, money in escrow will go towards rent, but I think they will tell you, you can't have it both ways.

Tick

Frankly, I think you are stuck. In most colntract for sale or lease to buy situations, the buyer/renter forfeits whatever is paid if they don't exercise the option to buy.

I suspect, the agent will deny having said that.