Lost half my land, due to clerk's office

[momcat1]

What is the name of your state? New York

Sorry, it's long

I'd like to know what any of you think of this scenario. Please keep in mind that is a true nightmare, not something imagined. Until it happened to me, I would never think of this as a possiblity.

We bought our home many years ago (+10), and agreed to buy most of the land, but not all. Properties in our neighborhood typically are composed of several smaller plots. Went through the usual, had an attorney, had title insurance, all the good stuff. The seller retained 2 parcels for herself. We retained what appeared to be 2 parcels, plus an adjoing piece.

Recently we applied for home equity and as a normal part of that process deed and title needed to be again reviewed. No problem, I thought. Boy was I wrong! Apparently the title company questioned some of the verbage on our deed, and asked the county clerk. He reviews it and decides that the 70 year old map of the area does not show numbers on the adjoining piece, so we must not own it. So he edits our deed, and eliminates 1/2 of our land, leaving us with no street access, and no marketability. No notice to us, our attorney, nothing. I find out when the bank's attorney calls me to let me know that my deed changed a week ago, and what do I know about it.

You'll say fortunately you have title insurance. That's true, but it appears that all I'll get out of it is the monetary market value of undeveloped land of that size as of the date I bought it. That's real nice, but it doesn't even come close to paying for the $8000 driveway I had paved over that section last year, or the loss to the market value of my home, or my loss of address, or access to my heating oil tank, garage and septic system. I no longer have a front yard, for God's sake. I don't want monetary reimbursement for what I lost, I want my land back. My attorney says if someone else were to attempt to purchase that piece of land now, they could have it. I'm concerned because a local business has already bought up the properties on both sides of it in the last couple of years.

When I called the clerk he made it sound like a deed correction was needed, a simple procedure, and not unusal but my lawyer states that this will be a long involved process, and has to go through the title company. My lawyer says this was the first case like this he has seen in 40 years.

I'm facing living in a home where I can no longer park my car on the expensive driveway, and have lost half the value of my home. This is outrageous!

Have any of you ever run into such a ridiculous situation and did you come out of it in one piece? How long did it take?What is the name of your state?

 

[danno6925]

I'm astounded!

Momcat1 -

Never heard anything so insane in my life. Granted, I haven't been in the biz fo 40 yrs like your attorney, but still - I thought I'd seen some strange stuff!

IMO, you should sue the county clerk's office for altering documents sent for recording. That's a no-no. I've always been told the same thing in the states where I've visited the courthouse to record docs (PA & NJ) - "We can't alter docs in any way, as it would expose our office to liability for the accuracy of the changes we made" or something to that effect.

I have a question for you - would you mind sending me block/lot information on the disputed parcel? It's public information, so you wouldn't be sharing anything unavailable already at the county clerk's office. You can email it to me at [email protected] if you would prefer it not be posted here.

I work in a PA title office, and this would make for a great training case for our newer employees. If not, I'll understand. Either way, please do keep posting regarding your case. There are several of us in my office who would like to know what comes of this situation.

 

[momcat1]

Dan,

I would consider posting block and lot info later on, certainly not yet. Once the case is resolved, it might not hurt to use it for training.

To keep things clear, nothing was sent to the clerk's office at that time for recording. The title company was merely doing a search. That's part of what I don't understand. I thought no one could alter anything without signatures attesting.

 

[IndianaOwner]

I would have your attorney call the title company and tell them to take care of this title matter, that is, do what they need to do to straighten it out. It should not be difficult unless someone intentionally puts up roadblocks. Sounds like it is simply some sort of scriveners error that the clerk attempted to correct but did it wrong so a correcting document would need to be filed backed up by title insurance, which the title insurance company should do all that for free.

 

[momcat1]

Well that's what our attorney was doing, but he also had me worried, since this really doesn't happen. The way I see it we'll be very lucky if that's all that happens.

 

[IndianaOwner]

I think basically what the title company will do is file some sort of correction form and they will back it up. The only people that can contest it is a current or future owner of the part that could be disputed, but unlikely if the title company is insuring it. The big question is will the title company reimburse your direct expenses for attorney and other costs??? Don't forget to ask them for that. Good luck.

 

[danno6925]

Momcat:
I can understand that. By all means, when this is said an done, my entire office would like to hear the details regarding how this was dealt with, and how long it took to correct. The general opinion in our office forum was that the title insurance company should make every effort to ensure that your interest in the property is defended. The consensus was that since the document was altered by the county clerk, s/he should be held liable as the responsible party for making the change to your deed.

These are some questions from my co-workers:

If you don't own the lot upon which your driveway sits, then who does? And can that owner be located to execute a quit-claim deed to this lot since it is merely an error that has them still owning it?

If the lots were allowed to be sold individually, wouldn't there be an easement for ingress/egress to and from the lot on which your house sits?

At what point did in time was the deed changed? This is important, since if it was altered AFTER recording, this would fall AFTER the effective date of the policy, and would not be insured against by your policy.

What was the exact nature of the change? For example, was the front lot removed from the deed entirely, leaving you with only one lot on the deed? Or was the block/lot number changed to different number in an effort to reflect what the clerk thought was the right info for your front lot? If this is the case, you should see that this is a relatively easy fix.

Still wishing you the best of luck, and a speedy resolution.

 

[momcat1]

The former owner would have to be the one to make the call, and may very well hold the piece hostage to squeeze more money out of us.

This is a neighborhood that pre-dates zoning. And there was no easement, nor any reason for one. The driveway is situated within confines of the property I bought.

The front lot was removed from the deed entirely, leaving me with the rear property only on the deed.

And my septic is under the section that was removed from the deed! There is no place on the remainder to put a new one without fouling the well, which also can't be moved and still be far enough away from the neighboring wells and septics.

 

[efflandt]

Was a survey provided by seller when you bought the property? Does legal description show actual lengths of boundaries, or just portions of gov't lots?

 

[danno6925]

The former owner would have to be the one to make the call, and may very well hold the piece hostage to squeeze more money out of us.

Not true. If that were the case, and they never owned the property in the first place, and you would then have a case of theft by deception or at the very least for fraud on the part of the grantors on the deed that was altered. The bottom line there is that if the grantor did in fact own both lots, and intended to convey them to you by this deed, then the title company would be held responsible for the correction of the error/omission on the Block & Lot info.

This is a neighborhood that pre-dates zoning. And there was no easement, nor any reason for one. The driveway is situated within confines of the property I bought

Makes sense to me. Why issue an unnecessary easement , unless you were planning on selling one of the lots to someone else?

The front lot was removed from the deed entirely, leaving me with the rear property only on the deed.

This is just wrong on the part of the clerk in so many ways. You entered into this transaction under the belief that you were buying both lots. When it became apparent that you were only sold one, the damages were done to you. There has to be some sort of legal recourse.

And my septic is under the section that was removed from the deed! There is no place on the remainder to put a new one without fouling the well, which also can't be moved and still be far enough away from the neighboring wells and septics.

Yikes! What does your attorney have to say with regard to whom you should sue for the damages you've suffered?

 

[momcat1]

follow up

Well, over 60 days have passed since we opened this issue with our attorney. Thought I'd let you all know there's been no sign of progress and no results either. Supposedly the title company is looking for the previous owner. Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to how much longer we should wait before taking some kind of formal action? I haven't been able to find anyone who has seen this situation before, and I have asked several professionals.

 

[seniorjudge]

Well, over 60 days have passed since we opened this issue with our attorney. Thought I'd let you all know there's been no sign of progress and no results either. Supposedly the title company is looking for the previous owner. Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to how much longer we should wait before taking some kind of formal action? I haven't been able to find anyone who has seen this situation before, and I have asked several professionals.

Tell your lawyer to light a fire under the title company.

 

[danno6925]

Taxes

Another point for you to consider are the property taxes (county, township, school) that you paid on the land. Assuming that you paid your taxes as they were assessed, you could inquire as to whether or not you will be getting back the money you overpaid on your taxes, since the local government probably assessed your land incorrectly. They allowed you to continue paying taxes on a property you allegedly don't own - IMO you should be entitled to (at the very least) a refund for the difference between what you paid and what you "should" have paid!

Since you DID pay taxes on the land, I'm wondering if it could be argued that through adverse posession (quiet title) or through prescriptive esasement you should have legal access to the land.

As always, post back and let us know how things work out for you. Best of luck!

 

[momcat1]

Tell your lawyer to light a fire under the title company.

Been there, done that. All my lawyer would do was tell us to follow up with the title company ourselves. And the title company doesn't seem to eager to return phone calls, either.

 

[seniorjudge]

Been there, done that. All my lawyer would do was tell us to follow up with the title company ourselves. And the title company doesn't seem to eager to return phone calls, either.

Make a visit to them in person; be nice.