Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

My mother has lived in her habitat for humanity house for 10 years. She is unable to sell the house until she has paid it off. She still owes 10,000 dollars before she completely owns the title to the house and the right to sell it.

***********She has spoken to the habitat affiliate. She is unable to sell the house until the remaining balance of 10,000 is paid. No mortgage or loans are possible through the affiliate. We have a buyer that is willing to front the 10000 to her for her right to pay off the remaining balance thus making it 100 her home. At that point she would sell it to the buyer for the agreed price minus the 10000. So what I am asking is if a outside contract can be made with the buyer to form a loophole around the habitat affiliate.

Without your observation to the actual contract, would something like this be possible


Asked on 7/29/14, 3:44 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Henry Repay Law Offices of Henry Repay

Unless you are absolutely sure your mother's questions were correctly posed, answered by the right person and understood, I would carefully cover this with the affiliate or have an attorney do so. I do not see that any affiliate's policies would prevent someone from selling a home and making the payoff through the closing process just like the rest of us do in a regular transaction. There may even be some question about the legality of tying up the property like that.

If your mother has her Habitat closing documents, then the other alternative would be to review those. Perhaps the affiliate rep does not understand the options and typical process either. A review of the documents can likely be accomplished by E-mailing or faxing the documents. If she cannot locate her set, she should be able to get copies. The documents will really need to be understood for the closing even if everything she has been told is correct and correctly understood.

That said, if the buyer is willing to do what you say, then there are ways that this can be handled. It will really depend on what the buyer wants as assurance. The simplest would be to combine a purchase contract with a personal loan/promissory note. If the buyer will use an attorney, it is likely that they will want something certain, such as signing a second mortgage on the property (which possibly can be kept private), which would be "applied"/paid at closing.

Read more
Answered on 7/30/14, 7:23 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in Illinois