Ask Me Help Desk - Land Contract

We bought a home and lot in 2009 on a land contract, the land contract that we have states the measurements of the lot and where the stakes are etc....our neighbors who are RENTING are giving us grief that they own 8ft into our driveway and about two feet from our back door....the lady we are buying the property from was suppose to have an escrow account for the insurance and taxes there is NO escrow account our taxes have not been paid and it clearly states in our contract it is to come out of our 520 a month and be paid...the home was almost foreclosed on due to this last year now again this year the taxes and insurance yet again have not been paid......we need to know what the heck is the land contract buyers RIGHTS are....can i get her in breech of contract for not paying our taxes and insurance as it states and can we get her in breech of contract for the property line issues that are clearly marked out in our contract????? her dad who owns the property above us is stating they will pay for a survey but how can they can the deed that we have if it is clearly stated we own from so many feet to so many feet...

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawva

... can i get her in breech of contract for not paying our taxes and insurance as it states ... her dad who owns the property above us is stating they will pay for a survey but how can they can the deed that we have if it is clearly stated we own from so many feet to so many feet...

If you have a "land contract", unless you have made all payments under the contract, you would not yet have a deed.

The neighbors, if they are renting, have no standing to assert a claim to your land. Are they suing you in court? If they are merely flapping their jaws, ignore them.

Are you buying from, this woman or from her dad? If the contract provides for payment of taxes and insurance from an escrow account, certainly that person would be in breach of contract if in fact no such account exists and the payments were not made. Without seeing the wording of the legal description, I have difficulty believing that you would not need a survey. If they will pay for a survey, of course let them do so. In any event, you should have an attorney look at the situation.

We are buying it from the woman. Her dad owns the property above us and has tried to.state that we don't own eight feet into our two car lot and almost two feet away from the back door however she is stating that isn't true. The neighbor has pulled stakes and pulled our private property signs down etc. I have a lawyer we are going to see Wednesday about this before we go any farther in purchasing the home from her and obtaining the true deed. Our contract is what we have gone by with the footage of the property four years ago when purchased and put a fence up. Nothing was said then now all of a sudden they have thrown a fit... Their septic line has even been put onto our sewer line while we were gone and the health dept is coming out to remove that leagally for us. There is in our contract that clearly states that insurance and taxes are to be paid out of the escrow account however there is no.account because three years in a row our taxes have been late one of which it was bought by tax ease and had to be paid and she paid it with our mortgage payment... I feel we are being railroaded and truly need to get her for breach of contract and other issues... And buy a house elsewhere.

First, the property dimensions listed in the contract are probably not binding. The property description as listed in the deed is though it is subject to a survey.

If you are looking to get out of the contract then your main issue is the lack of the escrow account and payment of taxes and insurance. You would have to file suit to recover any down payment and other monies paid towards the property. If you wanted to stay, you could have the contract amended to allow you to pay the taxes and insurance and deduct it from your monthly payments.

Your main problem is whether you can collect any or part of what you have paid. I believe you have sufficient grounds to void the contract, but collecting is another matter.

If you are looking to get out, then the property description would be a secondary issue that you could raise to show the contract was partially fraudulent.