Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Unless you are absolutely sure your mother's questions were correctly posed, answered by the right person and understood, I would carefully cover this with the affiliate or have an attorney do so. I do not see that any affiliate's policies would prevent someone from selling a home and making the payoff through the closing process just like the rest of us do in a regular transaction. There may even be some question about the legality of tying up the property like that.

If your mother has her Habitat closing documents, then the other alternative would be to review those. Perhaps the affiliate rep does not understand the options and typical process either. A review of the documents can likely be accomplished by E-mailing or faxing the documents. If she cannot locate her set, she should be able to get copies. The documents will really need to be understood for the closing even if everything she has been told is correct and correctly understood.

That said, if the buyer is willing to do what you say, then there are ways that this can be handled. It will really depend on what the buyer wants as assurance. The simplest would be to combine a purchase contract with a personal loan/promissory note. If the buyer will use an attorney, it is likely that they will want something certain, such as signing a second mortgage on the property (which possibly can be kept private), which would be "applied"/paid at closing.