Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: lease option to buy/ forfiting the contract

You might want to consult with an attorney. It sounds like the "seller" might be forced to sell despite his reluctance to do so since you had a contract and presumably met all of the terms contained in the option.

Re: lease option to buy/ forfiting the contract

Mr. Cohen is correct. Sometimes the contracts provide for the losing side having to pay the winning side's attorney fees and other costs. Go through the contract word by word, listing what is good for you, good for them, unclear, needs explaining, etc. A lease option in which the person is not allowed to buy the property is not a lease option, but merely a lease. Point out to him that with the market going down he may not be able for several years to get a much as you are paying and since part of the rent was designated as being credit against the eventual sales price, the owner must pay you that sum back immediately if he takes the position there is no enforceable lease.

Re: lease option to buy/ forfiting the contract

While I agree with the previous answers, I think someone should point out that an option to buy real estate is not necessarily a privilege to tie it up while you search for financing. Depending upon the language of the option portion of your lease-option contract, you may have been required to be "ready, willing and able" to complete the transaction on or before the option exercise date or the option expiration date. It could be that merely saying, "Yeah, I wanna buy" on the last day is insufficient to bind the owner to sell to you. A serious doubt about your ability to fund the purchase could very well be enough to release the grantor of the option from his duty to sell.