Can power co put above ground lines in deed restricted community? (agent, property)
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IF your survey of the Deeded Property says three acres, then you bought three acres. The survery is done from the details on the deed: so many feet from here; so many feet from there; etc. If the seller sold you something they didn't own, regardless of the cicumstances, they are generally liable.
If the Deed misrepresented the property, then i would have to believe that the Title Company failed in their Title Search, and the Insurance which they porivide kicks in.
I don't know how title insurance works, but i would assume they reimburse you for your loss. Either the entiure pruchase price, or the purschse price less the price you are going to now sell it for to get out of the mess.
If the Deed misrepresented the property, then i would have to believe that the Title Company failed in their Title Search, and the Insurance which they porivide kicks in.
I don't know how title insurance works, but i would assume they reimburse you for your loss. Either the entiure pruchase price, or the purschse price less the price you are going to now sell it for to get out of the mess.
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Originally Posted by dontaskwhy
Before contacting a new lawyer, what about contacting the title agent first?
The OP said in one of their posts that it showed up on the title search, but the attorney missed it. Since it was on the title report, the title company probably wouldn't have any liability and title insurance shouldn't cover it.
I am fairly certain the original lawyer must carry some type of Errors and Omissions insurance. Granted, I am not a lawyer but I know as a Realtor my office is required to carry that type of insurance.
I agree that the OP should obtain legal advice from another attorney.
I find it amazing that the title company caught it at all, with the deed not recorded yet.
It really is a complicated mess. The title company should have picked up that the legal description on your contract didn't match the one on the title commitment, but it sounds like your contract just referenced a parcel number. Not a good idea, so your agent may have some liability there. The listing agent should know what they are selling, so they may have some liability there. The seller should definitely have a large share of liability, but the fact that it was on the title commitment may get them out of some of that liability, because there was the disclosure, right there, prior to closing. As the buyer, you have some liability to read the title commitment and know what you are buying, but that is partly what you hired the attorney for. Big, ugly, convoluted mess.
I don't think the realtor/agent is the one to blame as they rely on the title agent to investigate these types of issues. The attorney may also share some liability. I do feel for the OP and hope some fair resolution can be obtained.
The OP has indicated that the title company picked up on the situation. It was the OP's attorney who dropped the ball by not reading/ not communicating the title findings to the OP.
It's not hard for a title researcher to find these sticky wickets with properties. They don't rely solely on recorded deeds to figure out who owns what. Utility easements, rights of ways, liens, etc. can be recorded separately from deeds. Everything you could want to know abut a property is in the town hall, city hall or county records office ( depending how your state does it). You just have to know where to look for it. If it's been recorded, it's there. Utility companies and local government offices make sure to record.
And this is a good reminder to anyone purchasing property- read every piece of paper connected with your transaction without relying on someone else to do it for you.
A thought. If you sued your attorney they could then turn around and sue the trustee possibly.
Bingo! Also we are now underwater thanks to what is happening to the property. I don't think selling will be an option.
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Originally Posted by Lacerta
I'm assuming here that if you had known you were only buying 1 acre instead of 3, that you wouldn't have closed on the property. I'm further assuming that the property is worth less with one acre than you paid assuming 3 acres. If you got a screaming deal, and you could resell for what you paid, even with only 1 acre, that changes things a little. But assuming as I've stated: Your assumptions are spot on! But will add..no screaming deal. Sellers market as well as being a fixer upper that we invested $40k in after closing.
If it was on the title commitment, then the title company doesn't have any liability, as they did their job. Your lawyer missed it, I'd say your issue here is with your lawyer. They messed up big time. Missing the fact that you aren't buying what you think you are buying is a HUGE oversight to just not notice on the title commitment. I assume they have Errors & Omissions insurance to cover them in such a circumstance. Find out. Right..the title ins. noticed it and excluded it from coverage. This however was not noted before closing and the binder was not given to us until closing was over. Honestly..had I read that in 1 of the 34 exclusions..I wouldn't have known what it was and what it meant even if I read it. That is what we paid our attorney to decode for us.
Also, did you have an appraisal on the property? How many acres does it list? If you keep the property, you may have an issue with your loan being secured against all 3 acres while you only own 1 acre, which your bank is going to have a serious problem with.
Unfortunately during appraisal..he just checked deeds so he appraised at 3 acres without the impact of loss of land and 2 roads thru the property. I feel like the bank actually is responsible for their own increased risk. They were provided a copy of the report and my banker nor the underwriter caught it.
My personal opinion is that the law firm should be buying the property from you, including reimbursing you for any payments made and all your closing costs on both ends of the deal, and your moving costs (in other words, making it like you never purchased this property, which you wouldn't have done, if they had done their jobs you paid them for) and dealing with what they really own themselves. If they want to sue someone for false advertising, etc, that would be on them.
Wow..you put into words the ideal resolution. At this point in the game I'm fairly certain that is not how this will play out. The house was vacant so nobody gave a rats ass about what was happening so no negotiating was done. No requiring a sound barrier be put up (p.s. a 4 story hotel is coming in right out past the earth moving equipment) and no demand for replanting of trees for privacy barrier. It is not a nice place to live now. They say we can't prove we wouldn't have bought it..but lowered purchase price. I can tell you 100% we wouldn't have bought it at ANY price but proving it is not really possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted Bear
IF your survey of the Deeded Property says three acres, then you bought three acres. The survery is done from the details on the deed: so many feet from here; so many feet from there; etc. If the seller sold you something they didn't own, regardless of the cicumstances, they are generally liable. There was no formal survey before we purchased. Our realtor (which was also listing realtor..add that to the polluted mess) provided us with a plot/legal description (which was 3 acres by the way) so we found the pins.
I don't know how title insurance works, but i would assume they reimburse you for your loss. Either the entiure pruchase price, or the purschse price less the price you are going to now sell it for to get out of the mess. They found it..and excluded it.
Get your (new) lawyer on it pronto.
We did! Just no ending in sight for resolution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lacerta
I find it amazing that the title company caught it at all, with the deed not recorded yet. You are not the first to say that.
As the buyer, you have some liability to read the title commitment and know what you are buying, but that is partly what you hired the attorney for. Big, ugly, convoluted mess.
As I stated above..we weren't given the title commitment until closing was over. Mortgage was signed..check handed over. So had I sat there and read..AND understood what I was reading..it was too late at that point. YES..it is a big, ugly, convoluted mess. Unbelievably so.
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Originally Posted by willow wind
And this is a good reminder to anyone purchasing property- read every piece of paper connected with your transaction without relying on someone else to do it for you.
This is great advice in general but it's not always practical. I'm not an attorney so there is no way I would have known what I was reading in this circumstance. Also, while I consider myself fairly intelligent..I depend on my realtor to cover my ass on the contract. I don't understand all the mumbo jumbo so I rely on someone who does.
Bingo! Also we are now underwater thanks to what is happening to the property. I don't think selling will be an option.
...
They say we can't prove we wouldn't have bought it..but lowered purchase price. I can tell you 100% we wouldn't have bought it at ANY price but proving it is not really possible.
I'm not a fan of people who sue over the drop of a hat, but honestly , this is the sort of thing that is worth going to court over. You are potentially out a lot of money over this. I really would suggest spending the money hiring another attorney, and in your suit, name everyone involved and let the judge sort out who has what liability in the case.
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I don't think the realtor/agent is the one to blame as they rely on the title agent to investigate these types of issues.
The agent may or may not have any legal liability, but in my opinion, they are a bad agent. On a piece of ground with acreage, they should have walked the property with the seller to find out where the property lines were so they could walk it with potential buyers and give them correct information. In that process, it would have come up that it wasn't 3 acres anymore. The agent also receives a copy of the title report, and they should have caught on that the property described wasn't a match to what they expected.
OP, I am so sorry you are going through something like this. What a mess. I really hope you can get to the point when someone will pay for all your loss. Good luck to you!!!
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