Failed "Contract for Deed" Arrangements Leave Ozark Homeowners Facing The Boot

In Springfield, Missouri, KSPR-TV reports a story involving about a dozen families across the Ozarks who pay their mortgage on time but are losing their homes to foreclosure anyway.

The deals reportedly involved a sale to the families using a "contract for deed" arrangement, where the seller pockets an upfront downpayment, and the families agreed to pay the balance in periodic payments over time. As the seller collects these payments, the money is applied to the payments due on an existing mortgage which encumbers the subject home. When the agreed upon payment plan is completed, the homebuyers obtain the legal title to the home.

In this case, it is reported that, at some point, whoever was receiving the periodic payments made by the innocent homebuyers stopped applying the funds to the existing mortgage, triggering foreclosure, and leaving the homebuyers feeling like they just had the rug pulled out from under them.

For the story, see Ozarks Homeowners Lose Homes They Never Really Owned.

For story update, see:

• Springfield Business Journal: Foreclosures prompt backlash from The Real Estate Co.,
• Springfield News-Leader: Homeowners hurt by Greenleaf have option (One resident bypasses company, pays straight to titleholders).

For more on problems with "Contract for Deed," "Rent To Own", and "Lease / Option" real estate deals, go here and go here. rent to own lease purchase option scams yellowstone