Owner Financing Issues

[chuck04462]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Maine
Seven years ago I entered into an Owner Finance agreement with an individual. He was very easy going and it really seemed like a good idea at the time. I paid money down, recieved easy payments and recieved 4 acres in northern Maine with a house shell ( closed to weather, with no interior insulation etc and no water/sewer applications) He calls them "camps" and you finish them yourself. This was a good deal I thought since I am a good carpenter and have worked in construction all my adult life.
Things were going well and then my daughter passed away at the age of 19 and I was a mess. This happened in the middle of our construction. I had the water well in, septic, and interior of house 95% complete. I was financially in a mess, and emotionally. I traded the property back to the individual I had originally bought it from, in order to move back to the area I was originally from, to be closer to my remaining teenage daughter.
I took a great loss on the property, i dont want to say he took advantage of my situation but in retrospect it would seem he did. He satisfied the current agreement in writing, and traded me a piece of property he had in another portion of northern Maine with a small camp on it. The original agreement on the new property was verbal mostly although I have correspondence from him in regards to the property as far as my taxes etc. It is clear the property is mine. The agreement was I pay him 77.00 dollars a month for 3 years to offset what he felt was his due in the transaction. I went ahead with it since I basically had that option or just giving him back the other property and getting nothing.
Well to make a long story longer, we have had some disagreements as to property size, which was originally 5 acres agreed by both parties verbally. He sold the property around me without notice after he had been leading me to believe I was going to get first option on the whole parcel which was 24+/- acres. I ended up with 1 acre surrounding my camp and he has no reply as to my accusations of unfairness except to say, he was doing me a favor when this all took place in the beginning. I have recently contacted him in regards to paying off the neverending debt he seems to carry on me, i have been paying since 2000 on this property and he seems to still have a balance of half the original 3500.00 dollar amount agreed on. I want to be rid of him so I have asked he set up with his attorney an arrangement by which this can be paid off. His idea is for me to pay all costs and surveying and deed research for property. This is an extremely unfair agreement over and above the 2000.00 dollars +/- he intends to call "the payoff" .
I am at my wits end, I dont know what my rights are, what the sellers responsibilities are legally, PLEASE can someone legally advise me here?
LOST IN MAINE chuck

[Florid-aise]

I am certainly sympathetic to the loss of your daughter, as most honorable persons would be. And what remains to be seen is the reasonableness or honor of your seller. My impression on the face of your post, is that if you get even as much as one acre, and have to pay any amount (that you agree to pay of course), and were able to acquire clear title, you would be ahead in this instance.

Oral contracts for the purchase/sale of real estate just do not float, in any jurisdiction that I am aware of.

You go to court - he will just say that it was rent.

What do you do?

[chuck04462]

MAINE
I guess what I find amazing is that I am expected to pay all legal fees, title searches and/or deed fees, as well as having the property surveyed since he sold all the surrounding acreage to someone with no real clear surveying done to single out the property. My portion is directly in the middle road frontage of the whole original parcel. The parcel was not subdivided at the time of sale to the other party either.
There are no legal survey lines clearly drawn for said property except to the original parcel in whole. In the sale agreement he has with that person it clearly states my ownership, the size of my lot, and location in measure by him (not by survey). Is this a legal transfer of property if there is no clear lines of ownership by survey? He has said that I will have to pay for the surveying before i can get a deed to it. I have contacted the owner of the other surrounding parcel and he is unwilling to pay for any of it. ( he knows he has no legal responsibility to pay for it, therefore he is doing exactly as I would. I would let the seller and buyer decide whos paying.)
The person I owner financed with is insistent on the fact that I pay for everything. Isnt the seller responsible for anything in this state?
Unreal in Maine

[Florid-aise]

A few more observations.

First, the deed of your neighbor certainly supports any claim of ownership or of the sale to you of the portion excluded from his deed. That's good news.

Secondly, under the circumstances, where that deed (and not your very own deed), is what supports your claim of a sale of real property, then if it were me, I would not squabble one single instant on who pays for the closing....and just close the darn thing.

Thirdly, take the time to consult a local attorney. You already knew that though, didn't you?