Originally Posted by rsangel48
I live in Florida and have made a few mistakes over the past 2 years. I had a mortgage with Countrywide, but after Hurricane Wilma, I fell behind and got a letter that they were going to foreclose. Being only 24, I was scared and stupid, and rather than go into discussions with them, I panicked and tried a re-fi. I was told by the broker that it was not a hard money loan, although the loan was from 2 private lenders. I wound up losing the home in August 07 in a foreclosure. Once I had got notice from the lenders attorneys that they were going to foreclose, what did I do? Same stupid mistake. I went to a "foreclosure prevention" place, and thought we had a deal worked out, as did my lender, so the process was stalled. Through this time I didn't try to make any payments, which I could have, but no one told me I should do. As a matter of fact the people I was working with told me I shouldn't be making payments. Stupid of me, I know, because at least it would have shown good faith. Well, when that deal fell through, the process went ahead, I was given 60 days to make good on the back payments, nearing the auction date, I found we could pull money from my fiance's 401k, but not in the remaining time. I went to the courthouse for an extension, but the clerk that took my request to the judge said that she wouldn't bring up the proof of the money I was claiming was coming in, that the judge would call down for it. Stupid me, figured she knew what she was doing. Go figure. Anyway, after hours of waiting around the Broward County Courthouse, my extension got denied and as it was after 4pm, there was no time to re-submit the paperwork WITH the proof. Luckily, no one bought the house at auction and I was able to stay in it under a lease option.
The lender owner gave me a rent of 3000/month, which he said would cover the taxes and insurance, and also come off the purchase price. I wanted to pay 6 months up front, giving my fiancee time to build up his credit so he could purchase the home back. When I signed the lease option, I didn't realize he hadn't put that the 18000 was going to come off the purchase price, so when it came time to buy it back the 18 grand, of course, was still on the purchase price. Anyway, when we realized it was going to take a little bit longer to get the loan under my fiancee's name, the owner cut the rent to 1500/month.
Now, at the end of March (my lease was through 03/01), I had paid an extra 2000 at the start of the lease option, so I just paid the extra 1000 for the remainder of March's rent, and made the April payment of 1500. Now there is a contract worked out, my fiance is pre-approved, and we were going to close on the house in a week or two. The new contracts went out for the purchase on Saturday March 3rd, at a reduced price that took into account the 18000 I had already paid, as the owner realized was pushing him on it and that the deal would be harder to do without taking that off. Now I only owe 1500 for this month, that he wouldn't allow me to mail, and he insisted I drop off the check with the concierge at his "beach front condo" where he was staying for the weekend. I offered to just go deposit it on Saturday morning at Wachovia, as there is one 5 minutes from home. He said no, he wanted he check delivered, by me, to him, now. I explained that it wasn't possible to get the check to him until Monday morning, it is a cashiers check with Fridays date on it (which is when I purchased it). His wife threw a fit and said I would get that check to them THAT NIGHT, which was Saturday at 8pm, or I would pack and get out. After that attitude I told her they would have to evict me then, that I wasn't just going to pack up and move out because they couldn't wait until Monday to get the check when nothing could be done with the check or the new signed contract until Monday anyway. Incidentally, the cashiers check was made out to the other lender, who had originally okay'ed my depositing the money in her account on Saturday, but Allan, the other lender, insisted I bring the check to him, which is an hours drive away. Yes, I am late on the rent now, but on Monday it will only be the 5th and I am still wiling to pay it. The only other catch is that he had wanted it to cover the 1st two weeks of March and if the purchase didn't close by then, he wanted a $5000 deposit on the purchase, made payable to him. The FHA loan that my fiance is qualified for requires only $500 down, and it would be to an escrow account or title company. I didn't agree with those terms as, in effect, he was raising the agreed upon rent of 1500 back to 3000, without ever actually saying it. The company that is doing the mortgage is also a real estate company, and I know I can find another house in my neighborhood for the same purchase price or less, so my problem is not with moving. In these circumstances, I need to know my rights as a tenant. I believe he still has to give me three days notice to pay before he can file an eviction, and I will pay the rent, the agreed upon 1500. The main problem is, there is nothing in writing after the expiration of the original option that ended March 1st. There is however, proof that he dropped the rent, and that he planned on selling the property back to us.
I feel his demands that I drop off the rent check at any place he chose at whatever time he felt like choosing, were a little out of the norm. Had he said I could mail it to him, or had he let me deposit it in the other owners account, like she had okayed, there wouldn't even be a problem now. Does he have the right to demand I drive all over town to drop off a check when I could just mail it or deposit it? And most importantly, do I still have the same rights as other tenants, and does he have to go through the same procedures as any other landlord? Last night (Saturday) he had agreed to let me bring him the rent check on Monday morning, and I would also get the copies of the new purchase contract they had signed then. It was his wife, whose name appears on nothing, that brought the situation to this. She was the one who demanded I drive out to their house immediately or "start packing", it was after she started screaming at me that I told her they would have to evict me. Before she got on the phone, he was just going to have me fax a copy of the cashiers check to him either last night or this morning, so he knew I had it, then get it from me on Monday morning. What are my rights in this situation? I don't want to drag this out forever, but I do plan on exercising all of my rights, whatever they may be, rather than letting them walk all over me. I already have a house that's in short-sale that we will probably put in a bid for tomorrow. Also, as my fiances name appears on nothing related to the deal with this house, except for the new purchase contract, can they try to put his name on the eviction as well?:confused: :mad:
