Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We entered into a contract to buy a house in Michigan
We closed on our house and moved here with a thursday of last week closing date
We get here and are told there is a problem with the title and that it might be early this week
Friday we are informed that the seller bought the house on a land contract and that he can't sell us the house but they are going to ask the original owner to sell it to us, same terms and we will rent it for a month.
Saturday we are told we can get in on Tuesday
Today we are informed that we can get in on Tuesday but must pay a 2000 dollar deposit.
I believe we have a lawsuit at this point but what I really want is a house. We are thinking that the sellers realtor (who should have checked title on this house ours checked to see if we had title in California) and the seller who tried to sell a house he couldn't sell are liable. They should be paying all expenses. We came here with a contract on a house and are now homeless in Michigan.
We have had a week of waiting that is costing us 200 per day in expenses with 9 kids and 2 dogs.
Realtors don't check titles and neither do owners. There was a problem with the title on one of my houses that I had no idea about until I tried to sell it. It was an error and was corrected, but had I not tried to sell the house, I would have never known.
When you rent, the owner is within his rights to ask for a deposit. That is an entirely separate contract from your purchase. He owns the house and has to protect his investment.
Now, I think you are within your rights to back out of the contract, not sure what it says.
But if you want the house and it looks like the title will be cleared, why not just pay the deposit and rent and wait it out. I'm not clear on if this can defintely get resolved or if there is a question if the original owners can sell it to you.
Realtors don't check titles and neither do owners. There was a problem with the title on one of my houses that I had no idea about until I tried to sell it. It was an error and was corrected, but had I not tried to sell the house, I would have never known
this is not an error-
this was the original owner selling his house on a land contract while maintaining a mortgage -not allowed. He defrauded his mortgage company
This was the seller we are dealing with trying to sell a house he doesn't own- he defrauded us.
this is a realtor who apparently knew the situation two weeks ago and didn't inform us while plowing on ahead anyway. the realtor also committed a fraudulant act.
The owner may have a right to a deposit, and if I were signing a lease to rent this house instead of buying it I wouldn't have a problem paying it. I didn't go into this to rent a house, I signed a contract with a seller and an agent to buy the house.
This move is costing me already much more than it should have. We were supposed to be in the house on Thursday of last week- we have 9 kids. Those kids eat. We have to rent 2 motel rooms. Our moving company is going to start charging us to store our stuff.
We could walk away but then we are truly stuck here looking for a place to live and and houses aren't available to just move into. Had we known this 2 weeks ago we might have canceled the contract. They knew this and didn't inform us. They are legally responsible for this mess. We entered an agreement on good faith and we are contacting an attorney.
You'll have to prove everything....is it worth the time and hassle and possibly losing the house? If so and if you have legal questions about your rights talk to a local RE attorney.
BTW, you'd be surprised about what sellers don't know. The seller may have honestly not known he couldn't just sell and pay everything off at closing.
You'll have to prove everything....is it worth the time and hassle and possibly losing the house? If so and if you have legal questions about your rights talk to a local RE attorney
I'm not sue happy, I've never sued anyone.
I just want my house, a house, at this point, any house. I'm tired, my husband is tired, my kids are upset and tired. Even the dogs need a break. We just came out of selling a house where we did back flips and somersaults to appease the buyers, we just want some respect and for people to honor their contracts.
Please forgive my grouchiness here. We are going to pursue renting the house while starting over in escrow. We can come up with the extra money but that will set us back, we don't want to pay our bills late and risk not having escrow close as we have to start all over with the loan for the house. It just stinks that we are being put in this position.
momof11, you do have recourse with the seller who entered into the contract with you to sell you the house. This person(s) agreed in writing to sell you a house they did not legally own. Whether they did this knowingly or not, this is fraud. By all means, this person(s) should be paying for your expenses right now. This person's realtor may not have checked the title, (which is not customary in many areas), but most certainly the Realtor should have asked the Seller for a copy of the Warrany Deed to the property prior to listing the property for sale. In light of that, you may have some recourse there as well. Especially if this Realtor had knowledge that his client, (the seller) did not have what is called Fee Simple Title interest to the property. From what you describe, your seller appears to only have an interest in this property by virture of an Agreement (or Contract) for Deed. Which means the title of the property would not have passed to them until they were finished paying the prior owner for the property.
After you finally have your closing with the "correct" seller, I would seek the assistance of a Real Estate Attorney to help you recover the added expenses you should not have had to pay.
I have no idea what advice to give except you need to speak with a real estate attorney.
I usually make sure that the initial title search is done within days of going under contract. Prior posts are correct, agents don't do title searches so the issue wouldn't come up until a contract is in place.
However, I do check on the recorded deed when I take a listing, just to make sure that the owner on the deed is properly placed in MLS. I also check the recorded deed when I write a contract just to make sure that the seller info is correct on the contract. If the deed did not match the seller...
In my area this information is available online so it's easy. I don't know if I'd have been checking the deed if it required going to the court house. After reading your story I think I might re-think going to the court house to pull the deed if that was the only way to get it.
Good luck, I'm so sorry you are in this situation.
FLBob is right, you need a good RE attorney stat. You want him or her to start making sending out red-hot missives to the seller, seller's agent (if any), the seller's agent's broker (if any), the title company, and possibly the state board of realtors and the department of real estate (government). The RE company (and possibly the title company) should have some form of error and omission insurance to cover this, but they also have attorneys. Your attorney should have a good idea where to light the fires. But it's like torching off swamp gas, there will be quite a stink before it's over. I don't blame you for being hopping mad. This sucks a mighty one.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
{{{ hugs }}}
