Rhoda:
I have heard lease-purchase deals can get you into a legal problem. I have not looked up the statutes. I believe most people who are doing these deals are OK skirting the laws because the tenant/buyers are not aware of the regulations.
Here is how I do it:
I sign a lease with the tenant using the TREC form. In the special provisions, I put a statement that if the tenant buys the property under a separate agreement with the landlord, the lease will terminate at closing and the tenant will get their security deposit back.
Next, I tell the tenant (verbally) that they are welcome to buy the house at any time. If they choose to do so, we will sign a contract to sell the house to them at the then current market price. On that contract, we will give them a credit of $1000 plus $100 for every month they rented the house.
I hope this helps,
Neil Aggarwal
Property Financing, LLC
