Shed Becomes A Nightmare For Unsuspecting Homeowner In New York

You've probably heard people say that when you're buying your house you have to cross every 't' and dot every 'i.'  This is the reason why.

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Buying Houses Isn't Easy

Buying a home is an exhausting process.  First, you have to get financed for a loan.  That means going over just about every single financial transaction you've had over the last 10 years. Then you have to find a house that you love and you can afford.  Both of those things have to happen.  Then you have to agree on a price with the current owner.  After all the inspections and walk-throughs, finally you have to sign about 1000 pages of contracts and then they give you the keys and you hopefully get to live there happily ever after.

At least...that's how people hope it will go.  For this homeowner, he's finding that there may have been some miscommunication between their lawyers and the last homeowner.

The Shed On Your Property Isn't Yours

There is a website called Nextdoor that is supposed to be a social media type of app that will help you learn a little bit about the people that live in your neighborhood.  Sometimes they use it to sell things that they might have, they might use it to ask about an event coming up, or to say that a car got broken into on their street so everyone knows about it.

While scrolling through, today, this story popped up about a man who is dealing with an issue that he has with a shed on his property.

The shed itself is fine. The problem is that there is a company telling the homeowner that the shed was a rental from them.  The payments are due on it and if he doesn't pay, they're going to come to take it from him.

According to the homeowner's post, the shed was on the property when they purchased the house.  He doesn't mention anything about a rental contract that was signed by the previous owner.  If there was one, he is completely unaware of it.  However, he says that he received a letter claiming that he needed to pay to keep the shed that he thought was included in the sale of the house.

Is There Such A Thing As A Rentable Shed?

Sheds seem like the kind of thing that you would purchase straight out.  However, there are companies that will offer a "Rent To Own" arrangement where you "buy" the shed by renting it over a period of time.  The company listed in the letter in the post is "JMAG" which is a company that is actually very highly rated on Google.  They set up opportunities for people who need storage but lack the finances to buy them outright.

So who does the shed belong to?

The new homeowner seems to know nothing about a previous arrangement that involves renting to own the shed.  They believe that the shed is theirs with the purchase of the home.

The company that is trying to retrieve the shed seems to have a contract in hand for that shed in particular.

The previous homeowner doesn't seem to have mentioned or disclosed that there was an agreement with the shed company to pay over a period of time.

How would you handle this situation?

The last thing you want to have happen is for your shed to be taken off your property when you aren't around.  Most people would probably guess that they're not going to empty it first.  The first thing they should do is to check their contract.  Then call the real estate lawyers who helped to finalize the sale and see what they should do next.