Q: I need to know how to give a 3rd party access to a home I was selling on contact while I now live out of state.
I own a house in Illinois that I was selling on contact because I was moving to Oklahoma. The buyer hasn't made payment in quite sometime nor has he paid the taxes as agreed. I have been told he vacated the premises some months ago. Is there anything I need to do to allow a person acting on my behalf to gain access to the house to check the condition. I have no idea if there's personal property in it. Or if that would cause any problems.
A:
You state that you are selling the house under a contract (i.e. Articles of Agreement for Deed a/k/a Lease to Own). The lessee/buyer has not followed through and now abandoned the property. You wish to know if there are any steps you should take before exercising control of the property.
The Short Answer is that the underlying contract/lease should specify whether it is terminated automatically or if you need to take further steps to terminate the interest of the lessee/buyer. Chances are that you don't need to do anything other than exercise control over your property directly, or though an agent, but to be on the safe side I'd have an Illinois Attorney review the situation before taking action.
I hope this information has been helpful. Best of luck.
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