Forclosed Property / Title Insurance
I am trying to purchase a forclosed property, and I have been in contract for this property for 15 months. The person selling me the house is the one that comes up on title clean, nothing else except for the bank. In the house which is a two family lives a tenant and claims the house is his bought in the name of the person who is selling me the house, because he had bad credit. The tenant brought a lawsuit against my seller and lost. We were very close to closing on the house till I told my lawyer the story. My lawyer said there is nothing he can do, but notify the title company that this is the situation. Once the title company was notified they would not insure title until we got from the seller a dismissal with prejudice, which means this tenant can not come back done the road and sue me for buying the house and having knowledge of the situation. The seller has filed several bancruptcies to stall foreclosure proceedings till his lawyer clears things up, but it is taking an awful long time, and the tenant has still not been evicted. Every time they are close to evicting him he files another claim just to stop the eviction. Is there anyway I can get title insurance and close on the house? Is there any type of bond I can get that will defend against something like this? Please, please, please help. My lawyer is a rookie and I do not know any other attorney's in NY that would deal with something like this. If anybody could please help me with any sort of information I would be gratefull to you.. Please help. Thank you.[ Edited by kanakis on Date 06/04/2004 ]
1. Some deals are not worth doing. You have not indicated what is so great about this one.
2. People can use the legal system for their own benefit. You could be dealing with this for years to come. How many other deals might have come and gone in that time.
3. A rookie lawyer who is learning on your dime. What do you mean you could not find another lawyer? If they are all saying stay away there might be a message there.
4. Figure out how much the tenant thinks they are into the property. Figure out how much the deal is worth to you. See if you can come up with a figure to buy them out cleanly. Review anything proposed with the title company so they will issue title if you do strike a bargain.
As a learning experience I am sure you are learning quite a bit about the laws, the process and what dumb things people somethings do (repeated filings, etc).
As an investment figure out what the upside is vs. the costs in time and money. Investments are about the numbers. Do not get attached to winning at all costs.
John
[addsig]
confussed..
if "..a lawsuit against my seller and lost", then that is a judgement w/ prejudice. If the case was dismissed that is a different matter.