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I'm not seeking legal advice, but I would appreciate some guidance. I'm a condo owner, and when I bought my unit, it explicitly included a detached garage in the purchase, as clearly stated in the initial real estate listing and sales contract. However, recently, our new condo manager informed me of a potential error in the legal property documents, possibly in the deeds, which suggest that the garage doesn't belong to my unit but to the adjacent condo.
Naturally, I find this situation quite distressing. I paid the full market price for my condo, which explicitly included the garage. I reached out to the attorney who handled the closing, and she indicated that there might not be much that can be done, which I feel is unjust. I'm scheduled to meet with the condo managers and the board to discuss this matter, but I'm uncertain about the best approach.
Could you offer any words of encouragement or advice on how to navigate this upcoming meeting?
I'm not seeking legal advice, but I would appreciate some guidance. I'm a condo owner, and when I bought my unit, it explicitly included a detached garage in the purchase, as clearly stated in the initial real estate listing and sales contract. However, recently, our new condo manager informed me of a potential error in the legal property documents, possibly in the deeds, which suggest that the garage doesn't belong to my unit but to the adjacent condo.
Naturally, I find this situation quite distressing. I paid the full market price for my condo, which explicitly included the garage. I reached out to the attorney who handled the closing, and she indicated that there might not be much that can be done, which I feel is unjust. I'm scheduled to meet with the condo managers and the board to discuss this matter, but I'm uncertain about the best approach.
Could you offer any words of encouragement or advice on how to navigate this upcoming meeting?
Did you purchase title insurance with/without an owner title rider? Did you finance the home?
If you financed the home the mortgage holder now holds a home worth less than the appraisal if the appraisal also stated it was part of the home. That should be an issue for the title policy to handle. If you paid for the owner rider then the title company would then also answer to you for the lost value.
Beyond that it is a civil issue and you should speak with an Attorney about it. Either way I would still say you should speak with an Attorney other than the one handling the closing, one you explicitly pay to handle this issue.
I'm not seeking legal advice, but I would appreciate some guidance. I'm a condo owner, and when I bought my unit, it explicitly included a detached garage in the purchase, as clearly stated in the initial real estate listing and sales contract. However, recently, our new condo manager informed me of a potential error in the legal property documents, possibly in the deeds, which suggest that the garage doesn't belong to my unit but to the adjacent condo.
Naturally, I find this situation quite distressing. I paid the full market price for my condo, which explicitly included the garage. I reached out to the attorney who handled the closing, and she indicated that there might not be much that can be done, which I feel is unjust. I'm scheduled to meet with the condo managers and the board to discuss this matter, but I'm uncertain about the best approach.
Could you offer any words of encouragement or advice on how to navigate this upcoming meeting?
This meeting should be to collect the information that the condo board has and nothing else. Don't concede to anything. The burden of proof is on them.
I would require them to provide documentation and evidence to back their claim. Presumably you have a copy of your deed, bring that to the meeting to indicate your deed states the garage is a part of the property. Then tell them you will need to consult an attorney before proceeding any further.
Consult with a real estate attorney who did not handle the closing - someone who was not a party to the transaction. Take all your documentation including whatever the condo board gives you. Assuming a title search was part of the buying process, I'm surprised that discrepancy didn't show up if it exists.
I'm not seeking legal advice, but I would appreciate some guidance. I'm a condo owner, and when I bought my unit, it explicitly included a detached garage in the purchase, as clearly stated in the initial real estate listing and sales contract. However, recently, our new condo manager informed me of a potential error in the legal property documents, possibly in the deeds, which suggest that the garage doesn't belong to my unit but to the adjacent condo.
Naturally, I find this situation quite distressing. I paid the full market price for my condo, which explicitly included the garage. I reached out to the attorney who handled the closing, and she indicated that there might not be much that can be done, which I feel is unjust. I'm scheduled to meet with the condo managers and the board to discuss this matter, but I'm uncertain about the best approach.
Could you offer any words of encouragement or advice on how to navigate this upcoming meeting?
First, I would contact a different attorney to look into the situation on your behalf. Hopefully, he/she can resolve the matter in your favor.
Second, if the garage is determined NOT to belong to you, I would explore the filing of a lawsuit against the seller of the property who CLAIMED that the garage was included in the sale, AND I would explore the filing of a lawsuit against the attorney who did the original title work for you and apparently overlooked the fact that the garage that was alleged to be part of the property being conveyed to you was in fact NOT part of that property.
You might also consider filing a lawsuit against the condo association since if your deed is screwed up, then it's quite likely that prior deeds to this unit were screwed up and the association/owners might be responsible due to their negligence.
Of course, it's also possible that the new condo manager is wrong. What is he/she basing their belief on and why does he/she think it's their duty/responsibility to tell anyone what they own or don't own? Sorry that you're having to go through this BS. Is any other owner in the condo association having a similar problem, or are you the only one? It seems unlikely to me that your unit would be the only one that is screwed up with regard to garage ownership.
The title company guarantees the title to what the OP ACTUALLY bought, but it says or does nothing with regard to what the seller may have represented as to what they were selling.
In other words, the title company may tell the OP that he has clear title to the condo but not the garage which does the OP no good in pursuing the ownership of the garage which he was led to believe he was purchasing as part of the deal.
If the ownership of the garage was misrepresented, then the OP definitely should have legal recourse against whomever misrepresented it to him. The OP needs to get to the bottom of how he was led to believe that the garage was his.
Also, it's rather puzzling to explain how or why if the OP was using the garage during his ownership, then why didn't someone say something before now? I guarantee that if someone was using my garage without my permission, I wouldn't wait until they got ready to sell their condo to complain about it.
First, I would ask the new management exactly WHY they think that I don't own the garage that I think I bought several years ago with my condo. Then I would run it by my NEW attorney and not the one who did the title search when I bought it.
Many times, title searches are done by the secretary in some lawyer's office and the lawyer simply signs his name to the title certification so he can collect his check. This attorney may, in fact, be the one whom the OP has legal action against, so he would be the last person I would contact about my current problem.
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