10.2.2 Identifying a Bond for Deed

Without a promise to transfer title following completion of the installment payments, an agreement is not a bond for deed.1  However, a contract may be a “bond for deed” even if it is styled as something else.2  A contract requiring the buyer to obtain financing to pay off a mortgage can be a bond for deed.3  An agreement can be a bond for deed even if it does not comply with statutory protections for the bond for deed buyer.4  The presence of a final nominal payment or a balloon payment does not prevent an agreement from being a bond for deed.5

The proper interpretation of a contract is a legal issue subject to de novo review.6

By comparison, La. C.C. art. 2620 defines an option to buy as a contract whereby a party gives another the right to accept an offer to buy within a stipulated time. Thus, a document giving a term and varying purchase prices for an option to buy is not a bond for deed, but rather a lease with an option to buy.7  There is a 10-year limit on options to buy.8

A bond for deed must be made by authentic act or by act under private signature.9  However, occupancy plus sworn admission by the seller can substitute for the lack of a written agreement.10

• 1James v. Denham Springs Rent All, Inc., 2007-0858 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/21/07), 2007 WL 4465620; Solet v. Brooks, 2009-0568 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/16/09), 30 So. 3d 96, 99–100; Bradstreet v. Kinchen, 2008-0126 (La. App. 4 Cir. 04/01/09), 10 So. 3d 331, 336–37; Williams v. Adams, 2010-0477 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/01/10), 2010 WL 4278275.
• 2See, e.g., Bayou Fleet P’ship v. Phillip Fam., LLC, 07-581 (La. App. 5 Cir. /02/06/08), 976 So. 2d 794; Tabor v. Wolinski, 1999-1732 (La. App.1 Cir. 09/22/00), 767 So. 2d 972 (“lease-purchase agreement” was a bond for deed); Mooers v. Sosa, 01-286 (La. App. 5 Cir. 09/25/01), 798 So. 2d 200 (“affidavit” was a bond for deed).
• 3Cottingim v. Vliet, 2008-1263 (La. App. 4 Cir. 08/12/09), 19 So. 3d 26, 31.
• 4Montz v. Theard, 2001-0768 (La. App. 1 Cir. 02/27/02), 818 So. 2d 181, 187.
• 5Bennett v. Hughes, 2003-1727 (La. App. 4 Cir. 05/26/04), 876 So. 2d 862, 863–64.
• 6Montz, 2001-0768, 818 So. 2d at 187.
• 7Bayou Fleet P’ship v. Phillip Fam., LLC, 11-924 (La. App. 5 Cir. 03/27/12), 91 So. 3d 1112.
• 8La. C.C. art. 2628; Bubola v. Stutts, 2008-183 (La. App. 1 Cir. 09/12/08), 2008 WL 4191020.
• 9Solet, 2009-0568, 30 So. 3d at 100.
• 10Upton v. Whitehead, 41,131 (La. App. 2 Cir. 06/28/06), 935 So. 2d 746, 749.