3 years ago we purchased a mobile home on leased land in Wa state. We bought from a couple who own the home for $30,000, with $10,000 down and purchase agreement, monthly payments, etc. Also in purchase agreement was a clause that they have title, no liens, etc. Well, male owner used to come by every moth then want us to sign lease agreement which would cancel out purchase agreement and hubby and I said no. Well, I did some snooping and found out that they don’t own home, Greenpoint did, now greentree. And the owners who were in a new house and sold it, now nowhere to be found. Greentree knows we are here, but I wanna know what we can do,I wanna take care of this whole matter, even if we pay off home, they get title. And there is still $14,000 still owing, according to our contract, $4,500 and we have to pay insurance that is in their name. Thank You, Dawn 
Howdy Dawn:
Sounds like a real mess. Just the reason why Texas has legislated against lease purchase deals. One option out is to deal with Greentree and purchase the mobile from them. You may offer them less than the balance owed and see what happens. Have they actually gotten title to the home via repossession foreclosure or ???.
If the home is still in the original owners name you will have to deal with them. One way is to pay into an escrow account until you straighten out the affair. Who have you been paying? Do not pay the owners any more money. At worst case you may save enough in the escrow account to get another home and just abandon the one you are buying. You can of course sue the owners but get ready for a long court battle costing you at least $3K for a possible judgment that will probably end up netting you zero cash in return.
Thank You ted for replying, Greentree has title, they bought out Greenpoint in Dec. and called in Jan. to tell me that Oct. Payment was not made, back then I was paying the owners, you know what happened. As of that point I have been paying Greentree ever since. The owners have sold thier home, I found out via Treasurers office and they have not bought a home ia the Auditors office. Greentree has supposebly tried to contact them, to no avail. I don’t know what to do especially since they broke contract since day 1 and yhey would end up with title after I pay and now they are MIA. Thank You, Dawn
Howdy Dawn:
If Greentree owns it all you can do is deal with them. If you pay it off you will get the title and not the previous owners as long as Greentree owns the property and not just the loan. Sounds like they were trying to collect the payment on the loan and not let you know that they own the property.
Another option is just to live there as long as you can for free until they come and repossess the home and then evict you, trying to live up some of your down payment. That was a lot to put down to start with on a mobile home deal. I guess you were trying to pay for it asap and not have any payments. Sorry to hear about your dilemma, I have had similar problem before but put less than a grand down and walking away was my best option. Lots of luck with what ever you do.
Hey Dawn!!! Hi Ted!!! Man, sorry to hear about this. >:(
If you decide to pay Greentree, just be sure that you have a written agreement that they will convey title to YOU once the balance is paid. If you can’t get that, don’t pay anyone a dime!!! The good news is that it will not affect your credit if you don’t pay. Gosh, this makes you wish they would reinstitute floggings!!! On a more positive note, things usually happen for a reason. Look for the lessons you can learn from this, be smarter the next time around and who knows, this may be a set up for a great deal on your next home!!! Do take advantage of the situation and try to get greentree to discount whatever is owed, or save some money for a down payment. It’s probably a good idea to talk to an RE attorney, but like Ted said, don’t let them talk you into a law suit. Chances are very good it would just be a drain of your time, money and energy. Happy hunting and God bless!!!