Posted by M Daniels on October 23, 2005 at 13:47:19:
What we purchased was the house not the duplexes. Her duplexes are sitting on our land. We purchased the land they are sitting on. We paid for the acerage. The attorney did the title search and the closing and we did not get it surveyed. We don’t want to lose our land but we do not want her duplexes of course. Should we ask her to buy back her land? The purchase price was for the house we live in and the land I am speaking of. We got what we paid for,I guess she was the one who did not realize her duplexes were sitting on our land.Thanks for the follow up
Posted by M Daniels on October 22, 2005 at 19:49:22:
We bought the house we are living in 2 years ago along with alomost 4 acres. The seller of the house also owns a set of duplexes behind our land. We recently found out that she unknowly sold us half the land the duplexes are sitting on. I thought my attorney had done a title search? We bought title insurance but don’t know where to look for guidence on how to fix this. We went to the Co. tax assessors and we are paying the land tax and she is paying the property taxes. It is all messed up. Should my lawyer be liable for this mistake?
Posted by Brian (UT) on October 24, 2005 at 11:33:51:
Pardon me for being confused, but what state are you in? Are these duplexes attached to the land or not?
And if they are, why are they considered separate from the land for property tax purposes?
When you were buying this property you saw it and it seems you were not expecting the portion of the land that the duplexes were on as part of the deal but now that an error was made in your favor you seem to want to take advantage of it.
If you really understand this was a mistake and you paid for 4 acres there is nothing to prevent you from selling the land under the duplexes back to the previous owner in order to pay you for land you bought. I don’t know the previous owners age, but maybe you can leave things as they are and just give her a land lease and the duplexes will revert to you at the end of the land lease.
What services did the lawyer perform? Was a survey done?
You have no problem with title here. You own your duplexes and the land on which they sit. You have a survey problem. Did you pay for a survey when you purchased?
You got more land than you thought. If this was a mistake, then have the attorney file a corrective deed. Its done all the time.