Being sued for Deed

[SSprings]

Arkansas

This is a pretty long story.. Ill try to be short and direct.

My husband was deployed for a year and i was looking to purchase a home. I finally found THE house! It was under construction, But being sold FSBO. I was ecstatic! I jumped on it. Everything went fairly smooth... Went through a bank i trusted, went through a very well know title company, purchased title insurance... took less than a month for everything to be done and move in(December 2013). In April of 2014 we got served papers.. We were being sued for the deed to our home by a woman that said she already has a contract on the home. She is also suing the Builder, but has to include us because we own it. After two weeks of my trying to get the title company to get involved i had to hire my own lawyer. He was good and quick.. So now.. My title company hired a lawyer(bc i bought title insurance). In the Claim she states there was a lis pendens filed before i actually closed on the house (my title company and the loan people missed this??) which makes this even worse in my opinion. I have not attended any of the meetings or mediations as they never told me when they were. I spoke with the lawyer again today... He says that they have been to mediation and it didnt go anywhere. They offered the lady a settlement and she refused it stating she still wants the house(a year and a half later). He says they will try one more mediation, but if it doesnt work we will go to trial. I mentioned something to him about giving the house up , getting all my money back and then moving on with my life. I do not want to be tied up in this mess another 3 or 4 years. is that a bad idea? I just want to be done with it... We are afraid to do anymore upgrades to the outside incase we do lose the house. We just did a 11,000$ privacy fence. Storm shelter and deck were next.

Should i just walk away.. or keep fighting this and then sue them back because of all of this mess??? Sorry if it seems confusing..Thanks for your help!

 

[Zigner]

Arkansas

This is a pretty long story.. Ill try to be short and direct.

My husband was deployed for a year and i was looking to purchase a home. I finally found THE house! It was under construction, But being sold FSBO. I was ecstatic! I jumped on it. Everything went fairly smooth... Went through a bank i trusted, went through a very well know title company, purchased title insurance... took less than a month for everything to be done and move in(December 2013). In April of 2014 we got served papers.. We were being sued for the deed to our home by a woman that said she already has a contract on the home. She is also suing the Builder, but has to include us because we own it. After two weeks of my trying to get the title company to get involved i had to hire my own lawyer. He was good and quick.. So now.. My title company hired a lawyer(bc i bought title insurance). In the Claim she states there was a lis pendens filed before i actually closed on the house (my title company and the loan people missed this??) which makes this even worse in my opinion. I have not attended any of the meetings or mediations as they never told me when they were. I spoke with the lawyer again today... He says that they have been to mediation and it didnt go anywhere. They offered the lady a settlement and she refused it stating she still wants the house(a year and a half later). He says they will try one more mediation, but if it doesnt work we will go to trial. I mentioned something to him about giving the house up , getting all my money back and then moving on with my life. I do not want to be tied up in this mess another 3 or 4 years. is that a bad idea? I just want to be done with it... We are afraid to do anymore upgrades to the outside incase we do lose the house. We just did a 11,000$ privacy fence. Storm shelter and deck were next.

Should i just walk away.. or keep fighting this and then sue them back because of all of this mess??? Sorry if it seems confusing..Thanks for your help!

Your question is not really a legal question. It is up to you, with the advice of the professionals you have already hired, to decide how far you want to pursue this matter.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[justalayman]

. In the Claim she states there was a lis pendens filed before i actually closed on the house

but was there a lis pendens filed?


did you take title via a warranty deed? Was the seller the builder?

as to walking away: who is going to refund the money to your lender and you (presuming you put a down payment) and are you expecting any of the expenses of the closing or improvements refunded as well?

 

[LdiJ]

Arkansas

This is a pretty long story.. Ill try to be short and direct.

My husband was deployed for a year and i was looking to purchase a home. I finally found THE house! It was under construction, But being sold FSBO. I was ecstatic! I jumped on it. Everything went fairly smooth... Went through a bank i trusted, went through a very well know title company, purchased title insurance... took less than a month for everything to be done and move in(December 2013). In April of 2014 we got served papers.. We were being sued for the deed to our home by a woman that said she already has a contract on the home. She is also suing the Builder, but has to include us because we own it. After two weeks of my trying to get the title company to get involved i had to hire my own lawyer. He was good and quick.. So now.. My title company hired a lawyer(bc i bought title insurance). In the Claim she states there was a lis pendens filed before i actually closed on the house (my title company and the loan people missed this??) which makes this even worse in my opinion. I have not attended any of the meetings or mediations as they never told me when they were. I spoke with the lawyer again today... He says that they have been to mediation and it didnt go anywhere. They offered the lady a settlement and she refused it stating she still wants the house(a year and a half later). He says they will try one more mediation, but if it doesnt work we will go to trial. I mentioned something to him about giving the house up , getting all my money back and then moving on with my life. I do not want to be tied up in this mess another 3 or 4 years. is that a bad idea? I just want to be done with it... We are afraid to do anymore upgrades to the outside incase we do lose the house. We just did a 11,000$ privacy fence. Storm shelter and deck were next.

Should i just walk away.. or keep fighting this and then sue them back because of all of this mess??? Sorry if it seems confusing..Thanks for your help!

Have you asked your attorney what the worst case scenario is? I cannot imagine that the woman actually ending up with the house itself is a viable, legal option. Your mortgage company has a perfected lien against the home. It could not be deeded to the woman without that lien being retired.

Flat out ask your attorney what the worst case scenario could be, and what your options would be to be made whole if the worst case scenario happened, before you make a decision as to how to proceed.

 

[SSprings]

Yes there was a Lis pendens filed... The title company and bank somehow overlooked it days before closing.. They should be held responsible for that I think. That is their job after all.

In theory I'd love to just say forget it and walk away no money lost. I'd like to get back what I paid for the house in full seeing as this wasn't my fault and I should not have to deal with this. I did my part in buying a home. They failed. That's how I see it anyways. I don't know if getting money back for the fence is possible.. But I shouldn't be out because of this. Right?

We put no money down.. We used a VA Loan. We paid 184k . Our total was around 189k after fees. It was appraised for 188k a few days before closing. We now owe 185k.

Does the bank and title company really have no responsibility in this?

The lady suing wants the house but says the builder told her he'd sell it for 164k. ??
I assume she wants something for nothing...

I'm by no means a greedy person... I work for what I have. I just feel very wronged and someone should be held accountable.

 

[SSprings]

Sorry I missed the other questions... Yes there was a warranty deed. And yes the builder was the seller

 

[LdiJ]

Yes there was a Lis pendens filed... The title company and bank somehow overlooked it days before closing.. They should be held responsible for that I think. That is their job after all.

In theory I'd love to just say forget it and walk away no money lost. I'd like to get back what I paid for the house in full seeing as this wasn't my fault and I should not have to deal with this. I did my part in buying a home. They failed. That's how I see it anyways. I don't know if getting money back for the fence is possible.. But I shouldn't be out because of this. Right?

We put no money down.. We used a VA Loan. We paid 184k . Our total was around 189k after fees. It was appraised for 188k a few days before closing. We now owe 185k.

Does the bank and title company really have no responsibility in this?

The lady suing wants the house but says the builder told her he'd sell it for 164k. ??
I assume she wants something for nothing...

I'm by no means a greedy person... I work for what I have. I just feel very wronged and someone should be held accountable.

The title company does have responsibility...they messed up. Or possibly they technically messed up but did not morally do so. The bank does not because they also relied on the title company. The title company has insurance that should cover them in an instance like this. The builder should also have insurance (no guarantee but should) that would also cover them in a situation like this.

However, both the title company and the builder's insurance companies are going to attempt to settle with this woman based on her actual damages...assuming that her damages are valid. Her actual damages would be whatever she put into the purchase of the home, and possibly the difference between what she could have purchased the home for and its actual appraised value. You are a victim in this situation, no settlement is going to happen without your ok, and the ok of the bank if it involves the woman ending up with the home.

If it goes to trial, I honestly cannot imagine a scenario where the woman actually ends up with the home. I can see her getting a lot more money than the title company's insurance company wants her to receive or the builder's insurance company wants her to receive but not the home itself. I don't even think that a judge would have the authority to award her the home itself...because that would require an extreme amount of legal unraveling.

Again, have some frank discussion with your attorney.

 

[justalayman]

SSprings;3332891]Yes there was a Lis pendens filed... The title company and bank somehow overlooked it days before closing.. They should be held responsible for that I think. That is their job after all.

if you mean they reviewed the title days before closing and it was already filed, yes, they screwed up.

Does the bank and title company really have no responsibility in this?

bank; no. title company; yes

The lady suing wants the house but says the builder told her he'd sell it for 164k. ??

told her? Either she has a valid written sell/purchase contract or she has nothing. So, does she have a valid written purchase agreement for $164k? Does she have a valid written contract to purchase the property at any price?


.

Yes there was a warranty deed. And yes the builder was the seller

good
(credit Nolo.com)

A warranty deed transfers ownership and explicitly promises the buyer that the transferor has good title to the property, meaning it is free of liens or claims of ownership. The transferor guarantees that he or she will compensate the buyer if that turns out to be wrong. The warranty deed may make other promises as well, to address particular problems with the transaction.

so, what has the builder said about this? If there was a lis pendens, I would investigate as to whether the builder had been served a summons and complaint prior to selling you the home. Even if he has not been sued, he surely would be aware of a contract to sell the home prior to your contract with him. Given that, (if that does prove to be true) I would be looking to the builder to compensate me for any out of pocket expenses here (presuming you lose the home) including the costs of the fence and moving expenses (twice).

 

[SSprings]

if you mean they reviewed the title days before closing and it was already filed, yes, they screwed up.




bank; no. title company; yes



told her? Either she has a valid written sell/purchase contract or she has nothing. So, does she have a valid written purchase agreement for $164k? Does she have a valid written contract to purchase the property at any price?


.good
(credit Nolo.com)


so, what has the builder said about this? If there was a lis pendens, I would investigate as to whether the builder had been served a summons and complaint prior to selling you the home. Even if he has not been sued, he surely would be aware of a contract to sell the home prior to your contract with him. Given that, (if that does prove to be true) I would be looking to the builder to compensate me for any out of pocket expenses here (presuming you lose the home) including the costs of the fence and moving expenses (twice).

The title company does have responsibility...they messed up. Or possibly they technically messed up but did not morally do so. The bank does not because they also relied on the title company. The title company has insurance that should cover them in an instance like this. The builder should also have insurance (no guarantee but should) that would also cover them in a situation like this.

However, both the title company and the builder's insurance companies are going to attempt to settle with this woman based on her actual damages...assuming that her damages are valid. Her actual damages would be whatever she put into the purchase of the home, and possibly the difference between what she could have purchased the home for and its actual appraised value. You are a victim in this situation, no settlement is going to happen without your ok, and the ok of the bank if it involves the woman ending up with the home.

If it goes to trial, I honestly cannot imagine a scenario where the woman actually ends up with the home. I can see her getting a lot more money than the title company's insurance company wants her to receive or the builder's insurance company wants her to receive but not the home itself. I don't even think that a judge would have the authority to award her the home itself...because that would require an extreme amount of legal unraveling.

Again, have some frank discussion with your attorney.

My understanding was that her financing was secure, But there was an argument over the price of which she was paying. I was told after all of this occurred that he said he would build her a home for 164k, and it wound up costing about 20k more. She wasn't willing to pay it and so he put it up FSBO. I bought it without knowing she had an existing contract and had already filed a lis pendens against the home. We have recently learned that we will go to trail starting next month. The things that worry me themes are that there WAS a lis pendens filed before i closed, She had some sort of contract on the home, They have offered her a settlement and she refused (is that the builder admitting guilt??) and she's extremely persistent on taking our home.

 

[LdiJ]

My understanding was that her financing was secure, But there was an argument over the price of which she was paying. I was told after all of this occurred that he said he would build her a home for 164k, and it wound up costing about 20k more. She wasn't willing to pay it and so he put it up FSBO. I bought it without knowing she had an existing contract and had already filed a lis pendens against the home. We have recently learned that we will go to trail starting next month. The things that worry me themes are that there WAS a lis pendens filed before i closed, She had some sort of contract on the home, They have offered her a settlement and she refused (is that the builder admitting guilt??) and she's extremely persistent on taking our home.

What did your attorney say when you had the frank discussion with him that I suggested?

 

[justalayman]

There is a huge issue regarding what her contract included. If the builder was bound by the contract then basically he sold you a home he has no legal right to sell. If that is the case I suspect he is going to be repaying any losses you incur over this.

If her contract was not binding then she is spinning her wheels and will lose.


If she loses, you keep the house. If she wins, it could be any of a variety of results from you keeping the house to you having to find a new place to live.