SCRA & the Servicemember Buyer

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a federal overlay that attaches to a contract-for-deed buyer who is on active military duty; it does not displace the state forfeiture/cancellation statutes covered on the state pages, it sits on top of them and adds a court-order requirement, an interest cap, and stay rights that the state remedy cannot override. The SCRA was recodified in 2015 from 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501–597b to 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901–4043 “without substantive change”; older sources cite the App. numbers. Last verified: 2026-06-08.

• The scenario. A buyer signs a contract for deed (installment-land-contract) and then is called to, or is already on, active military service — or signed while already serving and then deploys. The buyer falls behind on installment payments (often because of the deployment: pay change, relocation, an absent co-borrower). The seller/operator wants to invoke the state forfeiture or statutory-cancellation remedy (forfeiture-vs-foreclosure, statutory-cancellation) — serve a notice of cancellation, run the cure clock, and retake possession of the property — exactly as the seller would against a civilian buyer. The question this page answers: what does the SCRA do to that remedy, what interest is the servicemember owed back, and how does an operator cancel a CFD against an active-duty buyer without committing a federal crime?

• The legal problem it creates for a CFD. The SCRA is not a defense the buyer must plead and win — several of its protections are self-executing voids that strip the seller’s power to act unilaterally. For a CFD specifically, three protections collide head-on with the ordinary CFD remedy:

  1. Anti-repossession / anti-rescission (50 U.S.C. § 3952). A real-or-personal- property installment-purchase contract on which the servicemember paid a deposit or installment before entering service may not be rescinded or terminated for a pre-service-or-during-service breach, and the property may not be repossessed, without a court order. A CFD is the paradigm installment contract for the purchase of real property. Self-help forfeiture against a covered servicemember is therefore not just voidable — it is a federal misdemeanor.
  2. 6% interest cap (50 U.S.C. § 3937). Interest above 6% on a pre-service obligation is forgiven (not deferred) for the period of service, and the periodic payment must be reduced accordingly. A CFD’s seller-carryback note (seller-carryback-financing) is an “obligation … bearing interest.”
  3. Stay of proceedings (50 U.S.C. § 3932) and the mortgage/foreclosure stay (50 U.S.C. § 3953). Even where the seller goes the judicial route — a foreclosure-of-the-contract action in a treat-as- mortgage state, an ejectment, or a quiet-title after cancellation (quiet-title-after-cancellation) — the court must stay the proceeding on the servicemember’s application, and a § 3953-covered sale/foreclosure during (or within one year after) service is invalid absent a court order or a compliant written waiver.

  The trap for the operator is structural: the state CFD statute may let a civilian seller cancel by self-help notice with no court involvement at all (the whole point of statutory cancellation), but the SCRA federally overrides that self-help path for a covered servicemember and forces the seller into court — where the same statute then lets the buyer pause the case.

Coverage: is this buyer protected, and is this CFD a covered contract?

Two coverage questions decide everything. Both turn on retrieved statutory text.

Who is a “servicemember” in “military service”

The SCRA defines a servicemember as “a member of the uniformed services, as that term is defined in section 101(a)(5) of title 10” (50 U.S.C. § 3911(1)), and military service as active duty for members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard; National Guard members under a federal call to active service for more than 30 consecutive days; and commissioned officers of the Public Health Service or NOAA in active service, plus periods of authorized absence (sickness, wounds, leave) from that duty (50 U.S.C. § 3911(2)). The period of military service runs from the date the servicemember enters service to release or death in service (50 U.S.C. § 3911). Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3911 (retrieved 2026-06-08).

National Guard members called up under state authority (Title 32 / Governor’s order) are generally outside the federal SCRA definition unless the call is the qualifying federal one — but many states extend SCRA-equivalent protection to their Guard by state statute, which is the gap flagged under needs_verification.

Is a CFD a “contract … for … the purchase of real … property”

Yes, on the face of § 3952. The installment-contract protection reaches “a contract for … the purchase of real or personal property” (50 U.S.C. § 3952(a)). A contract for deed is an installment contract for the purchase of real property — the canonical fit. The protection’s trigger condition is narrow and must be checked: it applies only where “a deposit or installment has been paid by the servicemember before the servicemember enters military service” (50 U.S.C. § 3952(a)). So:

• Buyer who paid a down payment or any installment before entering service → covered. The down payment alone satisfies “a deposit … paid … before.”
• Buyer who signed and first paid only after entering service → the literal pre-service-deposit trigger is not met for § 3952; the buyer still has the 6% cap (§ 3937), the stay (§ 3932), and — if the CFD note is “secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage” — potentially the § 3953 foreclosure protection. (Whether an unrecorded vendor’s interest under a CFD is “security in the nature of a mortgage” for § 3953 is the doctrinal question flagged under needs_verification.)

Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3952(a) (retrieved 2026-06-08).

Protection 1 — No forfeiture/repossession without a court order (§ 3952)

This is the protection that directly neutralizes self-help CFD forfeiture. The text:

“After a servicemember enters military service, a contract … shall be observed … [and such a contract] may not be rescinded or terminated for a breach of terms of the contract occurring before or during that person’s military service, nor may the property be repossessed for such breach without a court order.” — 50 U.S.C. § 3952(a)

Three consequences for a CFD operator:

1. Self-help forfeiture is off the table. A statutory-cancellation state lets a civilian seller cancel by mailing a notice and waiting out the cure period (statutory-cancellation, notice-and-cure) — no judge, no filing. For a covered servicemember, § 3952 federally requires a court order before the contract can be terminated or the property repossessed. The seller cannot complete a self-help cancellation; doing so is void and exposes the seller to liability.

2. It is a federal crime. A person who “knowingly resumes possession of property in violation of subsection (a) … shall be fined as provided in title 18, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both” (50 U.S.C. § 3952(b)). Wrongful repossession of an active-duty buyer’s home under a CFD is a misdemeanor, on top of any civil enforcement.

3. The court controls the terms of any termination. If the seller does go to court, § 3952(c) lets the court “order repayment to the servicemember of all or part of the prior installments or deposits as a condition of terminating the contract,” or stay the proceeding, or “make other disposition as is equitable to preserve the interests of all parties.” So even a court-ordered termination can come with a restitution-of-payments condition — the federal analog of the substantial-equity / restitution-offset themes in substantial-equity-doctrine and liquidated-damages-vs-penalty. Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3952(a)–(c) (retrieved 2026-06-08).

Protection 2 — The 6% interest cap on the carryback note (§ 3937)

A CFD’s seller-carryback financing carries interest (usury-and-interest-caps, imputed-interest-afr). If the obligation was incurred before military service and bears interest above 6% per year, the SCRA caps it:

“An obligation or liability bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year that is incurred by a servicemember … before the servicemember enters military service shall not bear interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent … during the period of military service.” — 50 U.S.C. § 3937(a)(1)

Three features that catch operators off guard:

• It is forgiveness, not deferral. “Interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year that would otherwise be incurred but for the prohibition in paragraph (1) is forgiven” (50 U.S.C. § 3937(a)(2)). The excess never accrues to be collected later; it is gone for the service period.
• The payment must drop. “The amount of any periodic payment due from a servicemember … shall be reduced by the amount of the interest forgiven … allocable to the period for which such payment is made” (50 U.S.C. § 3937(a)(3)). The operator must actually re-amortize the installment down, not just stop charging the excess.
• Buyer triggers it by notice; it relates back. The servicemember provides written notice and a copy of the military orders (the statute allows up to 180 days after release to do so), and the cap is applied effective as of the date the servicemember was called to / entered military service (50 U.S.C. § 3937(b)). A creditor may seek relief only by showing a court the buyer’s ability to pay the excess “is not materially affected by reason of … military service” (50 U.S.C. § 3937(c)) — a creditor’s burden, with the equities tilted toward the servicemember.
• “Interest” is broad. It “includes service charges, renewal charges, fees, or any other charges (except bona fide insurance)” (50 U.S.C. § 3937(d)). Late fees and loan charges packed into a CFD count toward the 6% ceiling. Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3937(a)–(d) (retrieved 2026-06-08).

Protection 3 — Stays, and the foreclosure protection if the CFD is judicially enforced

Where the operator’s state remedy is judicial — foreclosure of the contract in a treat-as-mortgage jurisdiction, an action to enforce strict foreclosure, ejectment, or quiet title after cancellation — two further protections attach.

Stay of proceedings (§ 3932). In “any civil action or proceeding … in which the defendant … is in military service or … within 90 days after,” the court, “upon application by the servicemember … shall … stay the action for a period of not less than 90 days,” if the application includes a letter stating how current military duty “materially affects the servicemember’s ability to appear” and when the servicemember will be available, plus a commanding officer’s statement that leave is not authorized (50 U.S.C. § 3932(a)–(b)). Additional stays are discretionary, and on denial of an additional stay the court must appoint counsel for the servicemember (50 U.S.C. § 3932(d)). The minimum 90-day stay is mandatory on a compliant application — the seller’s enforcement action can be frozen at the threshold. Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3932(a)–(d) (retrieved 2026-06-08).

Foreclosure protection (§ 3953). If the CFD is structured or treated such that the buyer’s obligation is “secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage” originated before service (50 U.S.C. § 3953(a)), then “a sale, foreclosure, or seizure of property for a breach of [that] obligation … shall not be valid if made during, or within one year after, the period of the servicemember’s military service” except pursuant to a court order or a compliant written waiver agreement (50 U.S.C. § 3953(c)), and the court may stay the proceeding or “adjust the obligation to preserve the interests of all parties” (50 U.S.C. § 3953(b)). A knowing violation is a misdemeanor (50 U.S.C. § 3953(d)). Whether a vendor’s retained legal title under a CFD is “security in the nature of a mortgage” is jurisdiction-dependent and flagged under needs_verification; in treat-as-mortgage states the CFD is already recharacterized as a security device, which strengthens the § 3953 fit. Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3953(a)–(d) (retrieved 2026-06-08).

The waiver question — can the seller contract around the SCRA?

Only narrowly, and not in the original CFD. SCRA rights are waivable only by a waiver that “is in writing and is executed as an instrument separate from the obligation … to which it applies,” and only if “made … during or after the servicemember’s period of military service” (50 U.S.C. § 3918). For the mortgage/installment/lease protections, the separate written agreement “shall specify the legal instrument to which the waiver applies and, if the servicemember is not a party to that instrument, the servicemember concerned,” and any such waiver in a contract/lease “must be in at least 12 point type” (50 U.S.C. § 3918). Consequences:

• A waiver buried in the CFD signed at closing (pre-service) is ineffective. It is not a separate instrument and is not executed during/after service.
• A boilerplate “buyer waives all SCRA rights” line is void for the same reason.
• A valid waiver requires a standalone, post-call agreement identifying the CFD and the protection waived, in ≥12-point type. Source: 50 U.S.C. § 3918 (retrieved 2026-06-08).

How jurisdictions handle it

The SCRA is federal and uniform — it applies in every state and territory and preempts any contrary state self-help remedy by forcing the court-order requirement (§ 3952) and the stay/foreclosure-invalidity rules (§§ 3932, 3953). What varies by state is the underlying CFD remedy the SCRA is overriding, and whether the state adds its own servicemember statute on top of the federal floor.

Layer	What it does	Authority (primary source)
Federal floor — applies in all 56	Court order required to terminate a covered CFD or repossess (§ 3952); 6% interest cap with forgiveness (§ 3937); mandatory ≥90-day stay on application (§ 3932); foreclosure/sale during + 1 yr invalid absent court order/waiver for mortgage-secured obligations (§ 3953); narrow waiver rules (§ 3918)	50 U.S.C. §§ 3911, 3932, 3937, 3952, 3953, 3918
State remedy being overridden — self-help cancellation states	The state lets a civilian seller cancel by notice with no court; SCRA federally removes that self-help path for a covered buyer and forces a judicial route	e.g. minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 559.21), texas (Tex. Prop. Code §§ 5.063–5.066) — see statutory-cancellation
State remedy being overridden — treat-as-mortgage states	CFD is already foreclosed judicially; SCRA layers the § 3932 stay and § 3953 foreclosure-invalidity on top — the strongest overlap	e.g. kentucky (Sebastian v. Floyd), indiana (skendzel-v-marshall-1973) — see forfeiture-vs-foreclosure
State servicemember add-on statutes	Several states extend SCRA-style protection (incl. to state-active-duty Guard) by their own code; these supplement, never reduce, the federal floor	needs_verification — not asserted per-state without retrieved text

(Per-state CFD remedy mechanics live on the state pages and in the 50-state-remedy-regime-table, 50-state-cure-period-table, and statutory-cancellation concept. This page does not re-derive them; it states what the SCRA does to whichever remedy a given state supplies.)

Operator mitigation — cancelling against an active-duty buyer without a federal crime

The SCRA cannot be drafted around in the CFD itself. The defense is process:

1. Screen every buyer and every default for military status — before you act. Check the DoD’s SCRA / DMDC verification (Defense Manpower Data Center) by name/SSN or DOB before sending any cancellation notice or repossessing. “We didn’t know” is not a defense to the § 3952(b) misdemeanor or to wrongful-foreclosure liability; the verification record is the operator’s protection. (Verification mechanics are administrative, not statutory — see needs_verification.)

2. If the buyer is covered, do not self-help. Go to court. For a covered servicemember, § 3952(a) requires a court order to terminate the CFD or retake possession — even in a self-help statutory-cancellation state. File the appropriate action (foreclosure of the contract, cancellation confirmation, or ejectment), and plead the SCRA posture so the record is clean. The court can still terminate — but on the court’s terms, possibly conditioned on returning prior installments/deposit under § 3952(c).

3. Apply the 6% cap promptly on notice — and re-amortize the payment. When the buyer gives written notice with orders, drop the carryback note to 6% back to the service start date and reduce the installment (§ 3937(a)(2)–(3), (b)). Forgiven excess interest is gone; collecting it is itself an SCRA violation. Only contest the cap by moving the court for a “not materially affected” finding under § 3937(c) — a high bar.

4. Expect, and build for, the stay. A compliant § 3932 application gets a mandatory ≥90-day stay; plan the timeline and the carrying costs around a paused case rather than a fast cancellation. Do not treat the buyer’s deployment as the moment to move fast — it is the moment the buyer’s protections are strongest.

5. Do not rely on a waiver in the contract. Any SCRA waiver must be a separate, post-service-call written instrument identifying the CFD, in ≥12-point type (§ 3918). A clause in the signed CFD is void. If you want a waiver, paper it correctly after the call-up, with counsel.

6. Disclose the buyer’s protections — and your compliance. Telling an active-duty buyer plainly that the contract cannot be force-cancelled without a court, that interest drops to 6%, and that the case can be stayed is both compliance and good operations; it also forecloses a later UDAP/consumer-fraud or wrongful-foreclosure claim. (CFD consumer-protection exposure generally: cfpb-cfd-enforcement, dodd-frank-seller-financing.)

7. Document everything and consult counsel before acting against a covered buyer. The penalties are criminal (§§ 3952(b), 3953(d)) and the DOJ enforces the SCRA directly. The cost of a careful judicial process is trivially less than a misdemeanor exposure plus damages.

▸ For Sellers / Operators — The compliance-critical facts, in order: (1) Self-help forfeiture is federally illegal against a covered active-duty buyer — § 3952(a) requires a court order to terminate the CFD or repossess, even in a self-help statutory-cancellation state, and a knowing violation is a federal misdemeanor (§ 3952(b)). (2) Coverage check: the buyer must be a “servicemember” in “military service” (§ 3911) and, for § 3952, must have paid a deposit or installment before entering service (the down payment counts). (3) 6% cap: pre-service carryback interest above 6% is forgiven (not deferred) and the payment must be reduced, retroactive to the service start, on the buyer’s notice (§ 3937) — only a court “not materially affected” finding (§ 3937(c)) avoids it. (4) Stays: a compliant application gets a mandatory ≥90-day stay (§ 3932); a covered foreclosure during service + 1 year is invalid absent a court order/waiver (§ 3953). (5) Waivers must be a separate, post-call, ≥12-point-type instrument naming the CFD (§ 3918) — a clause in the contract is void. (6) Process is the defense: verify status via DMDC, go to court, apply the cap, plan for the stay, document, and use counsel.

▸ For Buyers — If you are on active duty (or called up) and behind on a contract for deed, the seller generally cannot force-cancel the contract or take the property back without a court order (50 U.S.C. § 3952), even if your state otherwise lets sellers cancel by mailing a notice. If your CFD note was signed before you entered service and charges more than 6% interest, that excess is forgiven and your payment must drop once you give the seller written notice and a copy of your orders (§ 3937). If the seller sues, you can usually get the case paused at least 90 days (§ 3932). You generally cannot be made to waive these rights in the contract you signed (§ 3918). Verify your status and assert the protections — they are not automatic in every instance, and a JAG legal assistance office can help at no cost.

Related pages

• Federal overlay: cfpb-cfd-enforcement · dodd-frank-seller-financing · truth-in-lending-cfd
• Doctrine: forfeiture-vs-foreclosure · statutory-cancellation · notice-and-cure · reinstatement-right · substantial-equity-doctrine · strict-foreclosure-of-land-contract · quiet-title-after-cancellation · seller-carryback-financing · usury-and-interest-caps · imputed-interest-afr · installment-land-contract · liquidated-damages-vs-penalty
• Reference tables: 50-state-remedy-regime-table · 50-state-cure-period-table
• Representative states: minnesota · texas · kentucky · indiana
• Landmark anchor: skendzel-v-marshall-1973

Primary sources (retrieved 2026-06-08)

• 50 U.S.C. § 3911 (SCRA definitions) — “servicemember,” “military service” (10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(5) cross-reference), and “period of military service.” Cornell LII: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3911
• 50 U.S.C. § 3932 (Stay of proceedings when servicemember has notice) — (a) applicability to any civil action where defendant is in service or within 90 days after; (b) mandatory ≥90-day stay on compliant application; (d) additional stay and appointment of counsel on denial. Cornell LII: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3932
• 50 U.S.C. § 3937 (Maximum rate of interest on pre-service obligations) — (a)(1) 6% cap during service; (a)(2) excess interest forgiven; (a)(3) periodic-payment reduction; (b) notice + 180-day window + relation-back to service start; (c) creditor’s “not materially affected” relief standard; (d) broad definition of “interest.” U.S. House (OLRC): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section3937&num=0&edition=prelim
• 50 U.S.C. § 3952 (Protection under installment contracts for purchase or lease) — (a) covered contract for purchase of real/personal property where a deposit or installment was paid before service; no rescission/termination for pre/during-service breach; no repossession without a court order; (b) misdemeanor / fine / imprisonment ≤1 year for knowing violation; (c) court may order repayment of prior installments/deposit as a termination condition, stay, or equitable disposition. U.S. House (OLRC): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section3952&num=0&edition=prelim
• 50 U.S.C. § 3953 (Mortgages and trust deeds) — (a) coverage of pre-service obligations secured by a mortgage/trust deed/“other security in the nature of a mortgage”; (b) court stay or obligation adjustment; (c) sale/foreclosure/seizure during service + 1 year invalid absent court order or compliant written waiver; (d) misdemeanor for knowing violation. Cornell LII: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3953
• 50 U.S.C. § 3918 (Waiver of rights pursuant to written agreement) — waiver must be a separate written instrument executed during/after service, specifying the legal instrument (and the servicemember if not a party), in ≥12-point type. Cornell LII: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3918

Meta

• needs_verification:
  • State servicemember add-on statutes. Several states extend SCRA-equivalent protection (including to state-active-duty / Title 32 National Guard members not covered by the federal definition in § 3911) by their own code. No state provision was retrieved verbatim this run; do not assert per-state add-ons without the statute. Resolve on the state pages.
  • Is a CFD vendor’s retained title “security in the nature of a mortgage” for § 3953? The § 3953 foreclosure-invalidity protection turns on the obligation being mortgage-secured. In treat-as-mortgage states the CFD is already recharacterized as a security device (strong fit); in strict-forfeiture / statutory-cancellation states the characterization is unsettled. No case squarely on “CFD = § 3953 security” was located this run — left to a future case page.
  • DMDC / SCRA status-verification mechanics (the scra.dmdc.osd.mil single-record / multiple-record lookup and the § 3931 default-judgment affidavit) are administrative; the underlying § 3931 protection against default judgments without a service-status affidavit was not retrieved verbatim this run and is omitted from the body rather than paraphrased.
  • No verified published CFD-specific SCRA case in cases/ (e.g., a decision voiding a CFD forfeiture under § 3952, or applying § 3937 to a land-contract carryback) was located this run; the analysis rests on the statutory text. If a controlling case is later verified, add a case page and link it.
  • Exact verbatim subsection text of § 3952(a) and § 3937(a) was confirmed via the House OLRC granule and corroborated against Cornell LII; one direct re-read of the live eCFR/Statutes-at-Large is the only remaining belt-and-suspenders check.
• open_questions:
  • In a self-help statutory-cancellation state (minnesota, texas), what is the operator’s correct procedural vehicle to obtain the § 3952(a) court order — a declaratory/cancellation action, ejectment, or contract foreclosure — and does the chosen vehicle change the § 3932 stay exposure? Normalize per state.
  • When a court terminates a covered CFD under § 3952(c) with a repayment condition, how does that federal restitution interact with the state’s own substantial-equity / restitution-offset rule (substantial-equity-doctrine)? Likely additive, but untested here.
  • Does the § 3937 6% cap reach imputed/AFR interest (imputed-interest-afr) on a low- or no-stated-rate CFD, or only stated interest and the § 3937(d) charges?
• cross_links: installment-land-contract · forfeiture-vs-foreclosure · statutory-cancellation · notice-and-cure · reinstatement-right · substantial-equity-doctrine · strict-foreclosure-of-land-contract · quiet-title-after-cancellation · seller-carryback-financing · usury-and-interest-caps · imputed-interest-afr · liquidated-damages-vs-penalty · cfpb-cfd-enforcement · dodd-frank-seller-financing · truth-in-lending-cfd · 50-state-remedy-regime-table · 50-state-cure-period-table · minnesota · texas · kentucky · indiana · skendzel-v-marshall-1973
• changelog:
  • 2026-06-08 — Page created. Framed the active-duty CFD buyer under the SCRA: coverage (§ 3911 servicemember/military-service; § 3952(a) pre-service deposit trigger) → anti-rescission/anti-repossession court-order requirement and misdemeanor (§ 3952) overriding self-help state cancellation → 6% interest forgiveness + payment reduction on the carryback note (§ 3937) → mandatory ≥90-day stay (§ 3932) and foreclosure-during-service-+1-year invalidity for mortgage-secured obligations (§ 3953) → narrow separate-instrument waiver rules (§ 3918) → uniform-federal-floor vs. state-remedy-overridden table → seven-step operator mitigation centered on DMDC verification and the judicial route. All legal claims cited to 50 U.S.C. §§ 3911, 3932, 3937, 3952, 3953, 3918 retrieved this run; flagged state add-on statutes, the CFD-as-§3953-security question, § 3931 default-judgment/DMDC mechanics, and the absent CFD-specific case under needs_verification. Noted the 2015 recodification from 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501–597b to §§ 3901–4043.

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Disclaimer. This page is legal information, not legal advice, and may be out of date. Whether the SCRA protects a particular contract-for-deed buyer — and exactly which protections apply — turns on the buyer’s military-service status, when the contract and first payment occurred relative to service, how the buyer’s obligation is characterized under the relevant state’s law, and the current text of 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901–4043, all of which are fact-dependent and subject to amendment. The SCRA carries criminal penalties and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice. Verify the buyer’s status (DMDC) and the current statutory text, and consult a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction, before sending a cancellation notice, repossessing, charging interest above 6%, or proceeding against an active-duty or recently-released servicemember buyer under a contract for deed.