Completely swindled

Location is North Carolina. sorry for the long post, i'm trying to be brief. My sister and her husband sold their home through his dad, who owns some sort of property/real estate company that buys/sells for foreclosures and bankruptcy clients. They have no financial difficulties, but he offered to "help" them in their search for a new house. Son has recently renewed relationship w/ dad and thought it would be nice for him to help them. He found a house they liked -- told them it was a good deal b/c it was about to foreclose -- he then sold their property to a "buyer" and they bought the new one. They were making mortgage payments to his company for their new home and they paid him $11,000 at "closing." Recently, their neighbor requested to share their side of the fence and they went to their lawyer for the appropriate amicable paperwork w/the neighbor. After research, their lawyer informed them that not only did they NOT own the property they were living in, but that their name was also still on the mortgage for the property they "sold" and that it was about to default. In addition, the deed to that property was in husband's dad's company name, as was the one they currently live in and the mortgage on the house they currently live in is in the name of the previous owner still. They called dad and he said he'd "fix" everything. The next day, his lawyer called theirs and basically told them that they were s.o.l and that he'd do nothing -- that they should have known what they were getting into. So basically, they own nothing, are out over $15,000 and still have a mortgage on property they signed over to crooked dad. In addition, there's now a tenant in their old place. Is there anything they can do? Is what the dad did legal? Is it real-estate fraud? Their lawyer is trying to help them, but so far, the dad wants to fight it out and is refusing to give them any of their money back, though they didn't actually "buy" anything with the closing costs. Any advice would be helpful. My sister and her husband are young and just starting out and this situation could financially ruin them before they even get started!
Thanks so much!

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by bmt

Location is North Carolina. sorry for the long post, i'm trying to be brief. My sister and her husband sold their home through his dad, who owns some sort of property/real estate company that buys/sells for foreclosures and bankruptcy clients. They have no financial difficulties, but he offered to "help" them in their search for a new house. Son has recently renewed relationship w/ dad and thought it would be nice for him to help them. He found a house they liked -- told them it was a good deal b/c it was about to foreclose -- he then sold their property to a "buyer" and they bought the new one. They were making mortgage payments to his company for their new home and they paid him $11,000 at "closing." Recently, their neighbor requested to share their side of the fence and they went to their lawyer for the appropriate amicable paperwork w/the neighbor. After research, their lawyer informed them that not only did they NOT own the property they were living in, but that their name was also still on the mortgage for the property they "sold" and that it was about to default. In addition, the deed to that property was in husband's dad's company name, as was the one they currently live in and the mortgage on the house they currently live in is in the name of the previous owner still. They called dad and he said he'd "fix" everything. The next day, his lawyer called theirs and basically told them that they were s.o.l and that he'd do nothing -- that they should have known what they were getting into. So basically, they own nothing, are out over $15,000 and still have a mortgage on property they signed over to crooked dad. In addition, there's now a tenant in their old place. Is there anything they can do? Is what the dad did legal? Is it real-estate fraud? Their lawyer is trying to help them, but so far, the dad wants to fight it out and is refusing to give them any of their money back, though they didn't actually "buy" anything with the closing costs. Any advice would be helpful. My sister and her husband are young and just starting out and this situation could financially ruin them before they even get started!
Thanks so much!

**A: stay out of this mess and make sure that they hire a good real estate attorney.

We have no intentions of getting into it, other than trying our best to support my sister and help with research. Do you have an opinion on whether or not what the dad did is legal? Doesn't the mortgage on the property have to be satisfied for the transfer of the deed to be legal?
Thanks so much for your reply!

[BradleyS]

RE Broker in Kansas:

This is a question that a lawyer needs to answer for you. DO NOT ACCEPT any advice from any person that is not a lawyer. And make sure the attorney works primarily in the Real Estate field.

Your best bet is to call an attorney in your state.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by bmt

We have no intentions of getting into it, other than trying our best to support my sister and help with research. Do you have an opinion on whether or not what the dad did is legal? Doesn't the mortgage on the property have to be satisfied for the transfer of the deed to be legal?
Thanks so much for your reply!

**A: there is no way to answer your questions since all pertinent documents need to be reviewed by the attorney.