Posted by Jim FL on April 22, 2002 at 16:51:41:
Walter,
I’m not too sure I follow your first question totally?
Are you asking if you as the buyer in a land contract can refi? If so, YES, just check with local mortgage brokers for a good program to do so.
or
Were you asking if the seller can refi AFTER they have signed a land contract to sell the house?
If this is the case, it really depends on the contract language.
If the agreement prohibits it, no, if not, yes, but not above the price in the contract, as long as it is recorded.
As to the second question, how can you be sure the seller is paying the mortgage payments on the underlying loan?
There are a couple ways off the top of my head to handle this.
- If your payment to the seller is greater than the mortgage payment, make out two checks, one to the mortgage company, and one to the seller for the difference.
You can then send this to the seller, or send one to the mortgage company, and one to the seller. - Contact a contract collection company and send your payment to them. They will in turn send the payment to the mortgage company and the difference the sellers.
I personally get authorization from the seller to get info about the loan, and send the payments direct to the lender.
Should there be a difference, the remainder is sent to the seller.
You can always call the lender to check loan status with the authorization form.
HTH,
Jim FL