I'm looking to enter into a lease to purchase option on a home. Plan to give the seller 10% consideration fee with a 12-month timeline to purchase....

We can't actually give you legal advice, so it would be best if you consult an attorney on this matter. That said, the way mortgage contracts usually work is that a certain amount (10% is high, but not unheard of) is paid in earnest, as a kind of security deposit that the buyer pays to show that they are serious about pursuing the contract and reduce the risk to the seller if they back out....

We can't actually give you legal advice, so it would be best if you consult an attorney on this matter.

That said, the way mortgage contracts usually work is that a certain amount (10% is high, but not unheard of) is paid in earnest, as a kind of security deposit that the buyer pays to show that they are serious about pursuing the contract and reduce the risk to the seller if they back out. This money is generally put in escrow, and then if the mortgage is closed it will be applied to the down payment.

If you back out of the purchase, this money is usually forfeited to the seller. This depends on two factors however: (1) why you backed out---if you have a compelling reason or the seller breached the contract some other way, you will likely be able to recover the earnest payment. (2) what state you live in---different states have different laws regarding what happens to earnest payments if the contract is cancelled.

In general, you may want to try to find a seller who does not require an earnest payment, agrees to forfeit it at cancellation, or at least asks for one that is smaller than 10% (a more typical amount is 1% to 3%). But like I said, you should probably consult an attorney.