Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
I sold a house on Contract for Deed to a couple. Now they're not paying and one of them is demanding their down payment back.
Contract states
"12. In the event of the Purchaser's failure to perform any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement, the Seller will give the Purchaser a notice of default. The notice will give the Purchaser 14 days from the date the notice is received to remedy the default. If the Purchaser fails to remedy the default within 14 days, then the entire balance of the Purchase Price, including interest payable, will become due 10 days after the 14 day period to remedy the default expires (the "Notice Period"). Failure to pay the full amount of the Purchase Price owing will result in the termination of this Agreement at the end of the Notice Period.
13. The Purchaser and the Seller agree that in the event that the Purchaser fails to remedy a default and this Agreement is terminated, the Purchaser will vacate the Premises within 21 days of the Agreement terminating. The Purchaser and the Seller further agree that failure of the Purchaser to vacate within that period gives the Seller a right to maintain an action to obtain vacant possession of the Premises.
14. In the event of default and termination of this Agreement by the Purchaser, the Purchaser forfeits any and all payments made under the terms of this Agreement, including but not limited to all payments made towards the Purchase Price, and any and all taxes, assessments, or insurance premiums paid by the Purchaser, as liquidated damages for breach of this agreement."
I sold the house in Illinois (Salem) to a couple for $5,000.00 down and $425 a month. They paid the $5,000.00 and first month's payment of $425 in cash and then I moved to Arizona with my family. Approximately 2-3 weeks later or so the female contacts me wishing to be taken off of the contract because they had a fight and she had moved out. I tell her that the male must set up a new contract with me. He never contacted me. The 2nd month's payment came due and the money was not sent. I notified them that the payment was not paid. Then I offered to work with them because of their situation. The female wished to forfeit the entire contract and not have anything to do with it. The male however would not talk to me, would not pay, and would not tell me what was wrong, and I was told to contact his lawyer. I did not hear from the lawyer or him what was going for days (even though i called and emailed and texted multiple times) so i stopped trying to work with him and decided to enforce the contract giving him 14 days to pay. On the 14th day his lawyer finally emailed me back saying that his client "is hereby terminating the Agreement and demands that his $5,000.00 be returned to him." because of inconsistencies in the contract. Although I explained that the inconsistencies he pointed out (the fact that the contract says he wasn't paying interest and a paper i gave them separately from the contract said they were (which just showed what they would have been paying if I did charge interest which was really just coming out of my profit margin... guess i didn't explain it well enough for them to understand) and the fact that that my contract stated that there would still be a lien on the property once everything was PAID when I told them there wouldn't when it was all over with (which there wouldn't be once everything was paid AND all paperwork was filled out correctly and completely as I told them.)
I gave them a notice on the day after payment was due (the 2nd) that their payment was late etc. I sent them a notice on the 14th day after that (the 16th) saying the contract was ended and gave them 21 days to vacate. (As I knew they wouldn't be able to pay the full amount due on the property). Later that day I received the email from the lawyer that he was terminating the Agreement. I emailed him back the same day and told him that the inconsistencies weren't inconsistencies at all and that he needed to be out on time. Yet a couple days later I find out he removed my appliances from the property and when he called me and I asked him to return them he stated he was "keeping them safe" until the "money situation gets sorted out". Payment was due the 1st, it is currently the 20th.
"At this point what am I allowed to do legally?" I have contacted a lawyer in Illinois and am still waiting to hear back but like I said I'm in Arizona and they're in Illinois (a 24 hr drive or a 5 hour $300 flight away). Obviously he can't have his money back but when does he have to leave by? When can I legally go change the locks? Or what do I do now? I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to contact an Illinois attorney or an Arizona one? He said if I tried to get someone to change the locks he would call the cops and have the person arrested.... (side note: he's currently in a custody battle with his girlfriend at the moment too).
1 Answer from Attorneys
A review of the contract in its entirety would be required to give you specific legal advice. You need to contact a real estate attorney licensed in Illinois to assist you. An attorney located in the county where the real estate is located likely would be best. There should be no need for you to travel back to Illinois at this point. You either will need to forfeit the contract or foreclose it, based on the length of time and the amount paid.
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