When someone doesn't make their payments, the lender will file a "notice of demand", "lis pendens" or some other similar legal document.

We have contracts for over here (in Australia) but they do vary slightly from State to State - possibly the same in the US, but your legal people should be able to advise on that.You can get access to US standard option contracts, again that may need to be modified to suit your deal, as part of the package available at my website.

Go on line and let the pros do it right for you and they will even provide legal advice.

It would be an excellent exit strategy if it could be pulled off ( legally) that is :D Just my 2 cents

In Florida, there is, or at least was, a legal issue with starting a lease other than the first.

And hey, if you'd like to bring up some legal issues that would be great, too, because hey - LLs are increasingly becoming 'targets' (ha ha) in more ways than one.

There are disclosures and specific forms that must be used, but its perfectly legal to buy a house in foreclosure and "flip" it to another investor or fix and flip it or whatever.As I understand, Maryland has laws that say you must return 82% of any profit to the former homeowner.

Aside from meeting basic legal requirements for any contract, everything else is entirely optional, including the security deposit amount.

So the more people you can legally fit in a house the more rent you can charge, and the rent usually goes up around 3-5% a year.I am currently looking for a rental, have found some that should cash flow but I am holding off to find better deals in this market.That article from the WSJ also had some good advice... schools with rising attendance, in big cities and who don't guarantee housing to all students is a big one.

The eventual impact of the Alt-A loan pool is conjecture now, but I'd agree that the potential for compounding the current mess is great.