Jim and Sara Morton of Orlando, Florida, clearly recall the shock they experienced on the day they discovered the home they *thought* they were renting to own was not legally owned by the person whom they *thought* was the owner/seller.

Painful Rent to Own Florida Lesson Learned...

The painful lesson they learned later was that the person who had arranged the rent-to-own opportunity had simply worked for a referral fee and had not actually owned the property the Mortons had been calling home.

Mr. "X" -- the person arranging the rent-to-own opportunity and pretending to be the owner -- didn't actually own the property. Instead, he had sublet it and had assigned his option to purchase to the Mortons.

Avoid This Serious Mistake.

The mistake was that Mr. "X" hadn't completed the paperwork correctly, and the legal and rightful seller refused to sell to the Mortons, who had complied with all the terms of the agreement.

For the home in which you are interested, confirm ownership of the home offered as rent-to-own.

Little Known "Secret" Saves Costly Mistake

Confirm clear title to the property, which simply means that the person or persons with whom you are dealing actually have the legal right to sell the home in which you are interested.

A common strategy today is for investors to call on "for-sale-by-owner" (FSBO) sellers in order to get a property under contract on a lease-option. The investor then turns around and "assigns" the option to you.

The investor does not own the property.

In most parts of the country, a person now can go online to the website of the County Tax Assessor's Office to search property tax records.

Insist that the Florida rent-to-own home promoter or person offering the home on rent-to-own terms produces evidence of property ownership.

Should you choose not to do your homework, the result could very well be a legal battle to get title transferred once the lease expires and you are exercising your option to purchase.