Sale/Lease Options Part 2

Sale/Lease Options Part 2. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Lease or sell. It’s a big question and lawyer, Alex Thomason recently tried to help make the decision a bit easier. He talks about some selling issues.

THOMASON: I had a case where a seller carried the contract. Sellers said ok I will sell to this group of people and we’ll take payments over 3 years. So what happened was the property wasn’t producing what they expected as we’ve discussed and they needed an extension so they got an extension. They asked for a second extension. They got a second extension but in the meantime the landowner who was selling, carrying the contract suffered from a stroke.

The sellers signee decided he did not want to deal with the extension and so called the contract done.

THOMASON: That seller contract had three important terms and here’s what they had. They could do this. They could immediately declare a default and sue personally in Superior Court. They could immediately declare a foreclosure and have the property foreclosed. Or they could personally go after the personal guarantees. What lawyers are doing now is if you have a deed on a piece of property, they’re not foreclosing.

And some advice for the buyer...

THOMASON: If you are buying the property, limit the election of remedies. Again, if you are not comfortable with the terms of your deal, don’t do your deal. If you don’t understand the terms of your deal, don’t do the deal.

He says it’s important to consider all the different parts of the deal and understand how each may affect the end result.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.