If a landlord does do this, they are doing the tenant quite a big favor.

To @Andy Wong's point, credit unions are able to give much more favorable interest rates because they are not-for-profit organizations, which means they don't pay federal taxes.It's really kind of an unfair advantage that credit unions have over banks (and this is part of why banks have a really hard time competing with them)...

CA already has case law re produce-the-note strategies and has not been favorable to borrowers.

I will greatly appreciate it and hope I can return the favor somehow.

$8000 is a lot of damage and may be worth going after if you think you have a reasonable chance at success, but the odds are probably not stacked in your favor.

In other words, the practice may be available to highly favored borrowers.

, that's the cost of doing business.I've gotten several checks with mistakes in my favor, mostly from title companies over the years.

I'm not in favor of going through the listing agent when you first start out.

Negotiate for a WAY better price, or ask the seller to finance for more favorable terms....

Lesson learned, keep the EMP $100 or less (or nothing) and have the clauses in the contract weigh in my favor.