Bank lost payoff check

My closing took place on 12/28/00 in CO. I was not present but my company's relocation company handled the paperwork. I have not been able get a loan to buy my new home in TX because my previous mortage still shows outstanding payments and now late on my credit report. I called the bank and they said they have not received any money to pay off my original mortgage. I just found out that the check was sent overnight on the 28th and signed for. The bank now admits losing the check; but had already started foreclosure. This has caused me to be in limbo for two months and miss out on purchasing three homes I wanted to submit bids for. Do I have a legal recourse to get damamges for what their negligence has caused?

[JETX]

Probably not unless you can show that it was malicious or negligence that caused the check to be lost. Merely losing the check is not negligence.

In fact, they might be able to claim that, as a reasonable person, YOU should have checked with them to make sure that everything was closed and that your mortgage was cleared.

Your post said, "This has caused me to be in limbo for two months and miss out on purchasing three homes I wanted to submit bids for."

If you didn't submit the bids, you weren't damaged.
You didn't even know you were 'in limbo' until recently.
Shouldn't you have been concerned when you 'missed out' on the FIRST one??? Why did you wait for THREE misses to find out what was happening?

Thanks for the response. You are correct about checking to make sure the funds were delivered. This was my 1st home purchase and subsequent sell, and I thought that when the relocation coordinator called and said the closing was successful, I was free and clear. I now no how to prevent this in the future. It was probably not a malicious act by the bank but this is the same bank that has made numerous mistakes beginning with my original purchase of the home. Incompitence might be a better word. Your point about why I waited until "THREE" houses were sold is valid, albeit not excusing of the bank. I disagree that I would have had to actually submit the bids to be damaged. I deposited earnest money but the builder required pre-approval before locking in on the price. That same house is now higher because my original lender was the primary reason the pre-approval did not come through. The difference, in my opinion, is the damage.