What is the name of your state? Kansas
My wife and I were trying to purchase a home. To make a long story short, we did not get approved for financing. We heard of another option called rent-to-own or owner financing. We saw a house that we liked and the owner was willing to rent it to us with the option to purchase it in 2 years. The aggreemant we made with the seller was that the monthly payments were to be $850 a month plus $1500 downpayment that would go towards the purchase of the home. We had not signed a contract or lease yet. We told the owner that we were interested in the house, we gave her $950 deposit to hold the house for us. She stated that we had a week to give her the remaining $550 and when we had given her the entire $1500 we would sign the lease on the house. As it turns out, we met a different investor that same week. He offered us a better deal. He said that we could look for any house we wanted within our price range and he would purchase the home and rent it to us with the option to purchase as well. We told him that we had already found a home. We then spoke with the first owner and mentioned that we had met this new investor and he would be willing to purchase her home and we would do the rental deal through him. That way both parties would benefit. The owner would sell her house and get a profit right away rather than rent it to us and get her profit in 2 years. We would benefit because the investor was willing to put all new appliances in and give us a one year warranty on the house, something the original seller was not willing to do.
As it turns out, we found a home more to our liking somewhere else and expressed interest in it to the investor. He went ahead with the paperwork and purchased the property. We called the original seller of the first home and explained that we would not be interested in her property afterall... and she is refusing to give us our $950 deposit back. There was no paperwork signed and the lease was never completed or signed. We have a reciept she gave us for the $950. Is it possible to get that money back? If so, can we ask for more for our headaches and stress that we've been through over this terrible moving experience?
My wife and I were trying to purchase a home. To make a long story short, we did not get approved for financing. We heard of another option called rent-to-own or owner financing. We saw a house that we liked and the owner was willing to rent it to us with the option to purchase it in 2 years. The aggreemant we made with the seller was that the monthly payments were to be $850 a month plus $1500 downpayment that would go towards the purchase of the home. We had not signed a contract or lease yet. We told the owner that we were interested in the house, we gave her $950 deposit to hold the house for us. She stated that we had a week to give her the remaining $550 and when we had given her the entire $1500 we would sign the lease on the house. As it turns out, we met a different investor that same week. He offered us a better deal. He said that we could look for any house we wanted within our price range and he would purchase the home and rent it to us with the option to purchase as well. We told him that we had already found a home. We then spoke with the first owner and mentioned that we had met this new investor and he would be willing to purchase her home and we would do the rental deal through him. That way both parties would benefit. The owner would sell her house and get a profit right away rather than rent it to us and get her profit in 2 years. We would benefit because the investor was willing to put all new appliances in and give us a one year warranty on the house, something the original seller was not willing to do.
As it turns out, we found a home more to our liking somewhere else and expressed interest in it to the investor. He went ahead with the paperwork and purchased the property. We called the original seller of the first home and explained that we would not be interested in her property afterall... and she is refusing to give us our $950 deposit back. There was no paperwork signed and the lease was never completed or signed. We have a reciept she gave us for the $950. Is it possible to get that money back? If so, can we ask for more for our headaches and stress that we've been through over this terrible moving experience?
