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Contract for deed: what it means

A contract for deed is a home purchase on an installment plan: you pay the seller in monthly installments instead of getting a mortgage loan from a lender. The seller keeps the deed, which shows who legally owns the home, until you make all the payments.

In Spanish it is

Contrato por escritura (contract for deed)

Also written as: bond for deed · land installment contract · buying on contract

A couple reads a leaflet together on the sofa at home.

Verified on October 17, 2026

2 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

Meanwhile, you typically pay the property taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance. The CFPB warns that most carry risks: if you miss a payment, the seller often tries to evict you right away and might try to keep the money you paid. Protections vary from state to state.

An example

Pedro is offered a house "with no bank": he pays the owner every month and the owner gives him the deed at the end. Before signing, Pedro talks to a housing counseling agency and asks how to file the contract with his county's land records office.

You will see it in…

Offers of homes or land financed by the owner
Contracts that say contract for deed, bond for deed or land installment contract
Your county's land records office

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. CFPB · What is a contract for deed? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. CFPB · Consumer advisory: Help is available for people facing housing problems because of a contract for deed (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026