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You want a good RE lawyer at your back, bottom line. Agents do not know a lot about title law, generally. Even title officers are not lawyers, and typically don't keep up with the latest case law, IMO. Even if they did, no one else in the process is really professionally qualified, in the eyes of the court, to straighten this out for you. And that's the ultimate threat, a court case. Everyone is exceedingly anxious to avoid this scenario, because it costs big money. This is your leverage.
That's why getting an RE lawyer to write some "hot letters" may do the deed, all by itself, if the title people and the seller's people have any brains at all. At that point, satisfying you becomes a lot cheaper and less trouble than continuing to mess with you. A good lawyer can take it from there, and negotiate a settlement that (sort of) works.
BTW, you want to start building a file with every scrap of paper you've got and detailed records, time and date stamped, of every phone conversation you have. Better yet, work through email alone and keep paper copies of all conversations. Build that paper trail, it works. Good luck.
We are in the house! We are "renting" till escrow closes but we're in. Thanks for all the help. We are still trying to get power turned on so we can't sleep there yet- but hopefully tomorrow. We've got have the stuff in though.
I had just had a similar situation happen and am kicking myself in the rear because I read the beginning of this thread before we signed a contract. One of the pieces of a paper from the seller said there were no liens on the property and he signed it. I thought that was enough.
Now, two days before closing I just called the real estate agent to find out what's going on and she says the title company just discovered the property (we're buying acreage / no building) is part of the seller's mortgage on his house and the rest of his land. The bank is going to reassess his property and house, minus the acreage he contracted to sell us, and the bank will decide if they'll release it or not.
The seller was so pompous right from the get-go and now to just say oops, sorry I misunderstood ... I'm dumbfounded.
Luckily for us we have no immediate plans for building on the land or moving there, so it's a realtively minor inconvenience, but it sure does leave a bad taste in the mouth. I agree with momof11 ... I rely on the agent to know the real estate business.
When I take my car to the garage, I expect the mechanic to find the problem and offer a resolution. I don't expect to have my car returned with something not repaired because I lacked the knowledge or experience to diagnose it myself. That said, when I find a trust worthy mechanic, I stick with him and recommend him to everyone I know.
Unfortunately I'm not from the area where I'm buying so choosing an agent was a blind selection. I tried to find recommendations online but didn't have much luck.
My boyfrined is ready to walk away from the deal, and I'm sure we have grounds since the seller provided false information, but the way I see it, once this annoyance is past us, we have a beautiful 5-acre piece of land. Also, since we're paying cash, there's no loan agent hovering over us and the seller's bank will at least get money for land if need be. But what a surprise that it IS so late in the process this shows up.
joolied, are you SURE you want to live next to the guy??
You make a very good point, and I've wondered this too. I haven't pointed it out to my boyfriend who is leaving the details up to me, but maybe I should discuss it with him tonight.
The seller's house is one road north of ours. I know there's at least a 10-acre parcel between him and our parcel, though he did reserve about the width of a driveway from our road back to the 10 acres, the length of which would run alongside our property.
not meaning to 'hijack' the thread...but joolied....so the 10 acres is locked in with a driveway access?? Along 'your' piece?? hmmm...IMHO I'd rethink this on. what if he should decide to break that into 2 plots, then you'd have more traffic beside your property.....just a thought.
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