Posted by JoeKaiser on May 25, 2000 at 01:24:40:
You probably should have thought about the likely pitfalls in your game plan before you made the offer.
Joe
Land Trust & Pre-Foreclosure Question - Posted by Sal Montagna
Posted by Sal Montagna on May 24, 2000 at 01:07:54:
If I get my offer accepted by the pre foreclosure owners in the form of a subject to offer with all the assignments of beneficial intetests, the CYA letter, and the Warranty Deed to Trustee stuff and I don’t end up selling, what happens here? Does the land trust agreement that I hold just get thrown in the trash? Am I liable for anything, or can I just walk and start looking for the next property?
Sal
Re: Land Trust & Pre-Foreclosure Question - Posted by chris
Posted by chris on May 24, 2000 at 13:08:52:
Sal- On top of everything Tim stated you better check on the laws in your area. If you want to play this game in California you are gonna have lots of problems with the courts. A land trust is not a liability shield, you need to look at corporations for that in conjunction with a land trust.
Check out California Civil Codes 1695 and 2945 if you live there.
-Chris
You can’t be serious… - Posted by TRandle
Posted by TRandle on May 24, 2000 at 08:05:52:
Sal,
Please correct me if I’m wrong here, but I read the intent of your post to say something to the effect of “If I get the seller to give me their property by promising them I will take care of the situation, and then if I can’t find a buyer quickly, can I just walk away and screw them over?”
I sure hope that’s not what you’re asking. Are you legally liable? Perhaps not, depending on the paperwork. Are you morally and ethically liable? Hell yes! If you want to stay in this business, you better plan on doing everything you can to keep your promises and help others. We’ve got enough slimeballs in the field already. If you haven’t realized that your word IS your life and character, you’ve got a ways to go. I’m hoping you will respond and tell me that I’ve misunderstood.
Re: Land Trust & Pre-Foreclosure Question - Posted by WilliamGA
Posted by WilliamGA on May 24, 2000 at 08:04:25:
Sal,
If I understand your question correctly, it is are you liable if you take a property subject to, via land trust, and then are not able to find a buyer, can you just walk away without recourse?
My feeling on this is that you approached a seller who was in need of a solution, you offered one. They gave you their house because of a desperate situation and you said that you would help. Now you want to walk away from that promise?
I am not sure of what the legal ramifications would be here, although I am sure there is a way that they could try to drag you into court and rightly so, but there sure seem to be some moral obligations here.
My suggestion would be for you NOT to buy a house through any means that you are not prepared to hold for a while if a buyer doesn’t appear immediately.
Be a man of your word, do what you say you will do for these people. Solve their problem, don’t create more for them.
WilliamGA
Re: You can’t be serious… - Posted by Sal Montagna
Posted by Sal Montagna on May 25, 2000 at 01:02:45:
I would like to help the seller like I promised but if I have $0.00 how can I do this? I am forced to walk! What would you do? They owe over $5K in back payments!
Sal
Re: You can’t be serious… - Posted by TRandle
Posted by TRandle on May 25, 2000 at 08:17:06:
Sal,
First I will say that if you can’t come up with 5k, you shouldn’t be doing preforeclosures in the first place. In my area that’s the absolute minimum it takes to cure a default, and it’ usually closer to 10k. Find a credit card, relative, retirement plan, etc. where you can get the money.
I would suggest reading all the articles on this site so that you can learn the numerous ways to minimize your risk, and therefore, the seller’s risk. And I define risk management as not only legal avoidance, but reducing the chance of putting yourself in a position where you can’t perform, as it appears you now are. There are plenty of ways to do this business where honesty, integrity, and assisting others are complementary with your goals. And there are plenty of ways to do this business without putting yourself in a position where you can’t keep your word.
So, if you have no money and no credit, I would suggest learning the REI techniques that don’t require them. I didn’t have to start that way and am slowly working my way back to that goal. However, there are tons of folks who frequent CREO who did begin that way and they have useful advice on how to make it work. So, with that said, learn your lessons from this deal (and there are numerous lessons in every deal), do what’s necessary to make things right, and go again once you change strategies.