And Another One Bites The Dust . . .

[Faust100F]

John, I have always been under the impression-

- that a cash rent landlord had to perfect a lien to secure a rent payment ahead of other creditors

but

- a landowner with a crop share lease has all that he needs for security in that if the tenant could be proven to have sold some of the landowners portion of the crop, the tenant was selling stolen property.

Was I wrong in my assumptions????????????

Jabber it depends upon when the cash rent is paid, March 1st or when the crops are out! I know of landlords that follow that practice, or half on March 1st or the balance at the end of the year. Since notice of termination of tenancy must be given on September 1st, you are right that if a landlord could get stuck come March 1st if the rent is not paid.

But . . . with a written lease, if rent is unpaid at March 1st, a landlord can go into court and get the written lease terminated, and in Iowa the written lease holds priority over other creditors, Remember, if the lease is written and is a split payment, or after harvest payment, the grain companies and banks are liable to the landlords for the rents if they received payments from the tenant if the grain was converted by the tenant and their name was not on the check.

Under an oral lease a landlord could get screwed out of his rent due March 1st, that is why if you do not know the BTO you are renting too, you put everything in writing, that is the smart thing to do, and the landlords rights are protected, and establishes a priority lien, an indemnity from other creditors if the landlord is not paid. But even under an oral lease, a court would probably terminate the lease if rent was not paid. But . . . who wants to take that chance?

In Iowa to the best of my recollection, is that oral leases do not have to be recorded, and run from year to year, but formal notice (certified letter) is required even to terminate an oral lease. I use oral leases (from year to year) on the farms I rent out. Rents in Iowa are due March 1st, and in South Dakota December 31st. In my area, a neighboring farmers "Word" still has value, maybe that is why farm managers would go extinct in the rural backwater, and why few written leases are used. My tenants want three year written leases, I just tell them I would not want to burden my children with long term written leases, if I should drink too much Corona some night and expire. lol. John

[peanut]

Look at Stamp Farm website there is a link to a video by top producer where he talks about some bankers laughing him out of there office.

[dennis1]

SoIllfarmer - what can I add to what you said? Absolutely nothing except "Well Said". John

Ditto here too John, and thank you Sillinoisfarmer..posts #31 AND #32

[db51]

SIF....I guess the one that comes to my mind was Attorney Wayne Crawford's rise to BTO status and subsequent bankruptcy/fraud/suicide in the early 1980's. In 1980 I sold him a large part of his seed needs for corn. His yields were excellent that year, but when I went to see him for his 1981 order he didn't buy anything from me, which at the time baffled me.
He offered no explanation of his decision. Later that next year when the Crawford operation fell apart and the lawsuits and criminal actions started flying, it became obvious to me that he had spared me from the pain of being a creditor in bankruptcy and instead left Pioneer, Dekalb and some other large companies holding the bag. I've never forgotten that. He always seems like a nice man, desperate financial situations can bring unthinkable consequences for anyone.

[SIllinoisfarmer]

Wow Db I must be getting old as I had forgotten about that case! Just sitting here I can think of over several dozen or more in the last thirty years. Remember the big dairy farm south of Watson (Lambkinland) that is no more? What did they have over 40 harvestores at one time and now nothing much remains of it either except for dilapidated buildings and foundations. Again just another case where they were going to set the world on fire and only ended up burning themselves in the process.

[roger7]

Was Crawford the guy in Sux Farming about 76 or 77 with the 26000 acre operation in Indiana. Somehow, the name doesn't sound right. The thirty's seem to be a bad time in a young mans life. You may have had 10 or12 years of success and good luck and now want to show the world what a giant you really are. Hubris, it has ruined men, it has ruined armies, it has ruined nations. R7

[db51]

Wayne Crawford was in South Central Illinois near Vandalia. At the time of his death, it was thought that he had merely vanished and faked his death . . . assuming another identity abroad. I rememer there were some suspiscious details about the speed of his burial etc....maybe even creamated or whatever. There were tales flying around the countryside and I don't know whatever became of it all. I remember he had a wife and some younger children at the time.

[SIllinoisfarmer]

I know that the trial did take place in Fayette county and it was a mess to say the least. Seems that he had a lien on equipment and then went and got a million more from somewhere out in Arizona, I believe, but they did not check for a prior lien and Crawford's brother-in-law also an attorney signed that the equipment was free and clear and that brought him in on the case as well. All in all it was a sad deal and the end of another BTO. Don't really remember all of the out comes now as it took years to get through the courts.

[Tas]

We had one big local BTO go belly up in 1993. They tried to play Russia rule-let (like 3k per acre rule-Let) with Frito-Lay in potatoes... They LOST...After the fact they tried to sue the banker for giving them TOO many shovels and digging them self's TOO deep in the hole,,,need less to say that did not go to far.............