Hello,

I see your previous expert was called away so I will attempt to help. If there is a written agreement for the purchase of a home, then it would be considered a binding contract and could be enforced by either party in the event of a breach.
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So if the buyer breaches and doesn't pay, then the contract would control what could happen. If the contract has a "forfeiture clause", which is common in land contract or seller financed deals, the seller has the right to notify buyer that the contract is in default and they are exercising the forfeiture option to declare the contract void. Typically these clauses say that all payments made to date would be considered forfeit and the seller would then have the right to recover possession of the property.
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The buyer could return the property to seller via quitclaim deed if the seller agreed to this and then cancel any outstanding obligation to pay the debt.
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But the forfeiture clause is an option of the seller. So if he doesn't want to exercise it, he could decide to file suit for breach of contract, foreclose on the property, have a sale, and then pursue the buyer for any difference in the sales price and the purchase price.
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However, this is a fairly expensive and time consuming way to reclaim a property and the seller may just agree to retain the payments made to date and accept a quitclaim deed back rather than pursue this in court. Especially if they don't think they can get their money from the buyer as the buyer can always file bankruptcy to extinguish the debt.
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Thanks.

Barrister

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