My fiancé and I got into a land contract on a farm. Then like many others we proceeded to lose our jobs and have not been able to stay on top of the payments required in the land contract. We are looking to move as soon as possible but the owners are stating they will come on the property and take away the appliaces as well as take our property and leave it out on the lawn. No lawyers or eviction process has been implemented... just threats. What rights do we have as currently residing on the property? Thanks in advance.

Hello t:

Well, the devils are in the details of your contract. It should say specifically what happens when you default.

What it SHOULD say, is that upon default, you become TENANTS, subject to eviction.

If it DOESN'T say that, or anything like it at all, then if you're no longer a PURCHASER, by law, you can't be anything OTHER than a tenant.

As a tenant, you are entitled to 30 days written notice, and if you fail in that, he needs to go to court to file a formal eviction.

Your personal property is still your personal property. If he comes to take you off your land WITHOUT a court order, call the police.

excon

If I have a land contract, but lost my job, now the people that hold the land contract see all I have done, and are raising the payments. Can I get reimbursed for what I have done to the house

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Originally Posted by who4u22

If I have a land contract, but lost my job, now the ppl that hold the land contract see all I have done, and are raising the payments. Can I get reimbursed for what I have done to the house

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It's best to start a new thread, rather than add your question to an old thread, even if that thread seems similar. As Excon put it, the devil's in the details, and your details may not be the same as those of the person who wrote the initial question in this thread.

Unless the contract provides otherwise,

• if you defaulted on the contract you are probably a month-to-month tenant. In that case, your landlord is free to raise the rent. If you don't like it, your option is to give them notice and move out.
  
• your improvements to the house are fixtures, and as such are a part of the house. No. You cannot be reimbursed. In fact, if you didn't have permission, either in the contract or otherwise, to make those improvements, the owner can hold you liable for the cost of restoring the property to the way it was.

Someone told me that Illinois passed a law for land contracts that if you do not have 20 % equity in property, the owners of the contract have a responsibility to reinburse you?
Thank you for taking the time to answer!!