Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Maryland

i have been renting to own a house the owners are now filing bankruptys

i have been renting to own a house for 4 years. When the agreement was made the owners had a mortage of 40,000. My buying price was $70,000. They had me sign a rent w/ buy option agreement, in the 4 years i have paid $22,750.00 off on the house. Now they are filing for bankruptsy. I just found out they took a second mortage out on the house 2 years ago and they still owe the bank 70,000. for the house. They say that the document they had me sign was never made legal and i have no rights. i have every rent receipt with my balance at the bottom. I have also heard that verbal agreements were lawbinding in Maryland. Do i have any rights, and should i seek legal help?


Asked on 6/16/06, 12:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alton Drew Alton Drew, LLC

Re: i have been renting to own a house the owners are now filing bankruptys

My suggestion is forget about the rent that you have paid. You would have paid that anyway just to live. If they honor the contract and sell you the house, what are you getting? A property with a lien on it. Determine what the payoff is for the property. Go to your bank and see if they will finance you that amount. If they can, then make an offer to the property owners to pay off their lien in exchange for the deed. They will have to get permission from the bankruptcy court to sell but if their bank sees a payoff coming their way, they will not oppose it. You will be wasting time trying to enforce the contract. Spend your time and resources to buy the house outright.

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Answered on 6/18/06, 5:40 pm


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