In desperate need for Advice

[Trac0109]

Are you ready for this one? Ok, I have a really huge problem. My husband and I (and our 4 children) were purchasing a house, and unfortunatly, we had a house fire. Well, we had insurance (the landlord did not have insurance), and the guy we were buying the house from, gave us a land contract lease after the fire had occured. We used the insurance money to have the house rebuilt, and were suppose to move back into the house. Well, after they got all the insurance money, we have had nothing but problems with them. Our house is done, and now the land lord sent us a new land contract, and wants more money for the house, and wants a down payment. It will be a year on Jan. 1st, since our house fire. We already gave him a down payment when we first agreed to buy the house, and now he is telling us that we can not move back into the house unless we agree to his terms. He said if we do not agree, then he will sell the house. We also gave him 20,000 dollars towards the house after the fire. Can someone please give me some advice, I have 4 children to think about, we have been living with my mother in a 2 bedroom house, since the fire, and we were hopng to be in the house by Christmas. Please help!!! Thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

Who are all the players?

 

[Trac0109]

Well, the land lord, his father(His company is the company that rebuilt the house, I forgot to mention that we have been having problems with him too. With code enforcement, the building department, and not to mention they didn't build the house the way we wanted, as it was first agreed upon, they built it to their satisfaction) and my husband.

 

[HomeGuru]

Now I am more confused then when I first started.

 

[Trac0109]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. Ok, I'll start from the beginning. When we first had our house fire, the land lord(or seller,we are buying the house on land contract) wanted 20,000 dollars, towards the payment of the house, from the insurance company, he was listed as an intersted party. So, we gave that to him, and our land contract was never terminated. We were suppose to move back into the house when it was completed, and that was that with the landlord. Now, we hired his fathers company to rebuild the house. Well, we have had legal problems with him too, our house was suppose to be finished a few months ago, and the builder we hired signed a contract stating the house would be done and livable by a certain date, or he would pay a penalty fee each day the house was not finished.Well, the house was not done by that date, because they had to many things wrong with it, and the building inspectors had them redo every thing that was wrong. Anyways, to make a long story short, the house just received its approval for occpancy by the city a few days ago, and is ready to be lived in. A few weeks ago, the land lord sent us a new land contract, when the old one is still good, it was never terminated, and he wants more money for the house, and also a down payment, when we already made a down payment when we first agreed to buy. He said if we do not agree to the new terms, he will just sell the house. But, he has 20,000 dollars, that was suppose to go to the payment of the house, plus the down paymnent we already gave him. Things were going good, until they received all of the insurance money to rebuild the house, and thats when all hell broke loose. The land lord didn't even have insurance on the house in the first place. I hope this makes more sense. The thing with the builder is a whole new issue. So, what I'm wondering is, can the land lord do this? What if we just move back into the house, since after all, we do have a landcontract that is still binding, is there anything he can do about it? One more thing, I have receipts for everything!

 

[HomeGuru]

Your revised post is a little clearer. You need to hire a real estate attorney now because you have one big mess. It appears that there was no escrow involved and you and the Seller/Landlord do not know what you folks are doing legally. I hope when you first purchased the property that your contract was recorded with the downpayment you paid reflected. Also I hope that when you paid the $20K downpayment, there was also a change to the contract. There are also other questions such as did you get a survey, title report, does the Seller have a mortgage and/or any liens on the property, is there any insurance covering the property now, who pays for the real property taxes etc.?

Your builder problems are a separate issue.