Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Kansas

After retiring from the military in June of 2010 I relocated and tried to sell our home in Kansas, without success. In order to meet the mortgage payments and acquire a primary residence we rented the home out using a local property management company.

In Jan 2013 I contacted a realtor as a potential selling agent and inquired about local market conditions since our tenant was due to move out. We entered into a contract in Apr 2013. In May 2013 I called to inquire about the status of the home and he told me that he had a client that would like to purchase the home on a rent-to-own basis. I was not familiar with that and I told him that he would have to fully explain this to me and I would do some research. We agreed to talk more about it and work out the details. He explained the potential buyer was self-employed and with the lending rules it made it very difficult to obtaining a home loan and they also had some unfavorable credit history to overcome. He also mentioned he was friends with the potential buyer. I sent an email about my concerns in doing a rent-to-own and I requested a formal contract, a down payment, a set clear rent for us, and several other questions, concerns, and demands. I never got a response to this email.

In Jul 2013 I got an Email stating he was working out the details and would have us a deposit as well as a contract. A couple of days later we received a congratulatory message from one of the neighbors about selling the home. They went on to tell us a family had moved into the home. I immediately called and he said it was the rent-to-own client that he spoke of. I told him we have someone in the home without a contract and this makes me very uncomfortable. He reassured me he was getting a contract to purchase the home, getting a down payment, and also that he was confident he could get them financed in a very short time. He also said the buyer agrees to make any necessary repairs to until the purchase is complete and will maintain the current condition. To this day I still do not know the tenant�s name.

Around 2 Aug 2013 I had not heard anything and had not received any payment so I contacted the agent who stated he would get me a contract and payment immediately. The payment was posted into my account but I did not receive a contract. I called him and he told me he almost has financing and the deal is about to go through.

This went on until Oct and several times I called or text him and never got a response until the Oct payment was short and I inquired about that. I was told I was overpaid on the first payment.

Again from November to Jan I inquired as to the status and was basically put off.

Around Jan 2014 I began to seek legal counsel on what my options were. I was concerned that having a tenant in the house with no contract, no movement toward selling, and basically a lackadaisical as well as apparently incompetent real estate agent was putting us in a very difficult situation. I was told my only real recourse was to try to work it out with the agent and buyer or attempt to evict the tenant. And if I evict the tenant this could turn into a legal nightmare. At that point I felt hopeless and at the mercy of the agent and the so called buyer. I was very concerned if I attempted to evict them they would severely damage the home.

This went on for months and although they paid the rent in a timely manner, I felt it was futile to continue pestering the agent and I did not have the funds to try to take legal action. I was afraid any action I took would result in retribution from both the agent and the client. Finally in April 2014 I had had enough I sent an email outlining that the buyer needed to be out of the house by 1 May or we needed to have a contract. Two or three days later he responded saying he had an investor that may be interested in buying the home and wanted to know my pay off. Then when I did not hear anything for several days I asked again and was told he was working something with an investor. Four or five days went by and I had not heard anything for I asked for a status. I was told we had an offer of $168000 on the home and that was too low to pay off the mortgage so I asked him to counter. We exchanged a couple of emails and then I did not hear anything else. Finally in June I asked for an update and I was told they were still working out the details. We heard nothing else until Aug when I reached out to him and was told they were waiting on the inspection.

That was the last communication I got until around the middle of Oct when he wrote me to say the buyer would not be able to purchase the home and were moving out 1 Nov leaving us only a couple of weeks with the mortgage payment due. He assured me the home was in very good condition and that he possibly had another buyer. I contacted a different agent and ask that they consider selling the home. They inspected the property and reported the home was in no condition to sell. Among the concerns were the walls were in poor shape and needed repair and painting; the carpet had deep stains as if someone spilled bleach all through the home; the heat was not working; the pool cover motor was inoperable; the yard was not maintained and there were a tremendous about of leaves not gotten up; the stove was missing; baseboards in the basement were damaged; the dehumidifier that came with the house was missing; and there was ceiling damage in a downstairs bedroom. The realtor put a market value on the home at $160000 which was $25000 to $35000 less than what I had expected and what the previous agent had quoted.

Feeling as if we had no other option I asked the property management company to determine if we could rent the home. They replied that could not rent the home in its current condition.

We are now left with a home we cannot sell, we cannot rent, and we stand to lose to foreclosure because we cannot afford to make the $6000 to $10000 in repairs. He allowed someone to move into our home without a contract, without a security deposit, without our consent putting us in an impossible condition.

The million dollar question is what on earth can we do?

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