Seller-Financed Deal Gone Bad — Need Advice and Legal Help Support

[Matthew Raby]

Hey BP community,

I’m currently in the middle of a serious situation with a seller-financed deal gone completely sideways. The buyers stopped paying, secretly turned the property into an Airbnb without my knowledge, and eventually defaulted — leaving me with a huge unpaid balance, property damage, and a legal mess trying to remove them.

Even worse, the family renting the home through Airbnb was completely unaware and now caught in the middle. I’ve signed a legal lease with them to protect their housing, but I’m still stuck pursuing the original buyers for breach of contract, trespassing, and damages.

At this point:

• I’ve paid a $5,000 legal retainer

• The buyers owe over $18,000 in missed payments

• Damages include a kicked-in door, scratched interior doors from pets, damaged siding, and HVAC tampering

• And now they’ve taken up “residency” in the basement when the original buyers tried to call the cops on the ones living in the property due to not receiving payments from AirBnB anymore (because they are paying me directly). So they are squatting in the basement even though they have never lived there.

I’m moving forward with legal action, but I’m sharing here to ask:

• Has anyone dealt with something similar under a Contract for Deed?

• Any advice on how to frame damages and enforce against unauthorized occupancy?

• How did your legal process play out if you couldn’t recover funds from the other party?

I’ve also set up a GoFundMe to help offset some of the legal costs — I’m happy to share the link via direct message if anyone is interested.

Appreciate any insight or support from those who’ve been through a similar nightmare.

Thanks,

Matthew