What is the name of your state? Florida, Charlotte County
We closed on our house 9-20-04. Everything seemed fine and dandy.
I got a letter..."Certified Mail" ....and it is from the county utility office. "Final Notice Of Mandatory Compliance" stating that "Since you have failed to comply.... You have 20 days to comply or a lien will be placed on the property..."
Apparently, a year ago they notified the owner of the property that the county was hooking up to public sewer. (It used to be a septic system) And giving them 1 year to pay the $4,000 required, and to hire an electrician to install the panel needed to work with the public system.
So, I call the county and tell them I just bought the house in Sept., and did not own it a year ago, and did not know about this, I need more time to comply. They say..."Your real estate agent should have known. It should have been in the property disclosure statement. You have 20 days."
So, I look again at the property disclosure statement, thinking I must be a fool to have missed a $4,000 bill due, and oh my...it is not in there. In fact, where they ask about it, the owner says "no, we have no knowledge of anything of this sort."
So, I go back to the county. Thank goodness I came across a really nice girl with a kind heart. She looks it up in their system. She prints out the original notice of mandatory compliance sent to the owners on 5-18-04, and a page showing when it was recorded with the courthouse. She even printed out the owner's signature on the card! (It was sent certified mail, also.) She says..."Go talk to the agents."
I talk to the agents. They say "We have no way of knowing when people choose to lie to us. BUT, if they received the notice, and it was filed with the court, it should have come up on the title search...when you got title insurance, they should have found it. Go talk to the attorney who handled the closing and issued the title insurance."
So, I go talk to the attorney. He shows me where it came up in the title search, but says that since it wasn't an actual lien at the time of closing, the insurance won't pay. He says, "You may have to take the sellers to court."
Now, the office who handles all our real estate stuff back in my old town, in Manatee County, says this is bad business. "If it came up in the title search and they didn't tell you/exempt it...it is the title company's fault. He won't claim it to the insurance fund, it will expose his error, he will go after the seller first to keep from looking bad to the insurance fund."
So...bottom line is...
The sellers lied. The real estate agents didn't catch it, the attorney who handled the closing and issued the title insurance saw it, but didn't tell us, and the county never thought of sending out any kind of 'reminder notice', or 'since you newly acquired the property we thought we'd tell you', or ANYTHING until there is 20 days left to comply.
Add in the fact that it will be difficult, to say the least, to find a contractor to do the work and get the final inspection (county required) by my 20 day deadline.... And so avoid fines monthly (for who knows how long...) AND a lien on my property....
Who is ultimately responsible for paying these fees? The sellers? The title insurance fund?
We've got a running total of $4,000.00 for connection...and an estimate of $350.00 for the electrician, and ??? months of $22.00/month for fines.
I am not an investor....or a real estate mogul of any sort. We bought this house, and have apparently lost $4,5000 in equity right off the bat...it seems from no fault of our own...
No one is accepting responsibility, please help!!
Thank you so much! ...And I'm sorry this post is so long!!
~A
We closed on our house 9-20-04. Everything seemed fine and dandy.
I got a letter..."Certified Mail" ....and it is from the county utility office. "Final Notice Of Mandatory Compliance" stating that "Since you have failed to comply.... You have 20 days to comply or a lien will be placed on the property..."
Apparently, a year ago they notified the owner of the property that the county was hooking up to public sewer. (It used to be a septic system) And giving them 1 year to pay the $4,000 required, and to hire an electrician to install the panel needed to work with the public system.
So, I call the county and tell them I just bought the house in Sept., and did not own it a year ago, and did not know about this, I need more time to comply. They say..."Your real estate agent should have known. It should have been in the property disclosure statement. You have 20 days."
So, I look again at the property disclosure statement, thinking I must be a fool to have missed a $4,000 bill due, and oh my...it is not in there. In fact, where they ask about it, the owner says "no, we have no knowledge of anything of this sort."
So, I go back to the county. Thank goodness I came across a really nice girl with a kind heart. She looks it up in their system. She prints out the original notice of mandatory compliance sent to the owners on 5-18-04, and a page showing when it was recorded with the courthouse. She even printed out the owner's signature on the card! (It was sent certified mail, also.) She says..."Go talk to the agents."
I talk to the agents. They say "We have no way of knowing when people choose to lie to us. BUT, if they received the notice, and it was filed with the court, it should have come up on the title search...when you got title insurance, they should have found it. Go talk to the attorney who handled the closing and issued the title insurance."
So, I go talk to the attorney. He shows me where it came up in the title search, but says that since it wasn't an actual lien at the time of closing, the insurance won't pay. He says, "You may have to take the sellers to court."
Now, the office who handles all our real estate stuff back in my old town, in Manatee County, says this is bad business. "If it came up in the title search and they didn't tell you/exempt it...it is the title company's fault. He won't claim it to the insurance fund, it will expose his error, he will go after the seller first to keep from looking bad to the insurance fund."
So...bottom line is...
The sellers lied. The real estate agents didn't catch it, the attorney who handled the closing and issued the title insurance saw it, but didn't tell us, and the county never thought of sending out any kind of 'reminder notice', or 'since you newly acquired the property we thought we'd tell you', or ANYTHING until there is 20 days left to comply.
Add in the fact that it will be difficult, to say the least, to find a contractor to do the work and get the final inspection (county required) by my 20 day deadline.... And so avoid fines monthly (for who knows how long...) AND a lien on my property....
Who is ultimately responsible for paying these fees? The sellers? The title insurance fund?
We've got a running total of $4,000.00 for connection...and an estimate of $350.00 for the electrician, and ??? months of $22.00/month for fines.
I am not an investor....or a real estate mogul of any sort. We bought this house, and have apparently lost $4,5000 in equity right off the bat...it seems from no fault of our own...
No one is accepting responsibility, please help!!
Thank you so much! ...And I'm sorry this post is so long!!
~A
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