quit claim deed.

[bray1970]

I bought a townhome with external garage (#10). or at least I thought I bought the external garage (#10). but I didn't. what happened is the developer sold a townhouse with a detached garage to owner A but forgot the transfer the title over. owner B bought the townhome which stated it came with a garage and owner C (me) then bought the townhome which stated it came with an external garage. however, it has just been discovered the developer never transferred the title to OWNER A so nobody ever owned the deed to the garage UNTIL JUST RECENTLY. just recently, the developer sold all the garages including #10 to an LLC. and this time all the deeds (including for garage #10 were transferred to the LLC owner). interestingly, the developer contacted me today and said there was a SCREWUP at the title company during the sale to owner A that caused this mess. he offered me 10K if I woud sign a QUIT CLAIM DEED to the garage? does this mean the garage has a CLOUDED TITLE? one real estate agent told me it does and he also told me even though I don't have the title to the garage I am part owner of it. also, if this is true what are the methods the LLC could use to remove the cloud from the title? or is the only way for me to sign the quit claim deed. I am attempting to negotiate with the LLC and developer to get the garage deeded back to me. I just want to know how powerful of bargaining position I am in. I would like to know if there is anyway to CLEAR the garage title without my signature? there is a difference between the real estate contracts of owners A, B and C. owner A had a real estate contract that said he would get an external garage. owners B and C never had that in there contract but it was in the actual MLS listing. I am not sure if that is even relevant at this juncture. a real estate agent (which is sometimes right on and other times way off) said since I bought the townhome BEFORE my external garage was sold to the LLC I have ownership in that garage. but then again, my real estate contract never said I got a garage. any TITLE EXPERTS OUT THERE?

 

[FlyingRon]

Most likely there is a cloud on the title where it is possible that you might have an ownership interest in it and you might not. Obviously, he's offering you money to release whatever claim you have (a quit claim doesn't say you actually have some an interest, just that you release any you have).

Just as you don't have clear title to the garage, apparently neither does the developer or the LLC. Either one of you will have to go to court to settle the matter. That's likely what will happen if you don't sign the quit claim.

No TITLE EXPERT is going to be able to determine what you should do on an internet forum. They're going to have to look at all the history on the affected properties and any purchase document you might have and come up with a strategy.

You have two options, really:

1. Decide $10,000 is worth it to walk away from the garage issue (alternatively you can counter his offer with a higher amount).
2. Contact an attorney to investigate your options. This may allow you to go to court to gain title to the garage, or it may mean that you will be determined that you don't have an interest in the garage. An attorney should be able to tell you what your chances before you give him a whole lot of money (though you will have to pay him to have the thing researched).

 

[LdiJ]

How is the garage set up? Is it part of a building of garages or is it a stand alone garage? If its part of a building of garages and the LLC owns all of the rest of them then in the end, I don't think that you are going to end up with the garage. I think that due to the clouded title that you will get money for it, but not more than it is actually worth. If you have to hire an attorney for the case, then whatever money you get will be reduced by attorney fees. It may be in your best interest to maybe try to negotiate a little higher but still take the money and run.

Now, if it turns out that you are not the only one in this situation, that there are other people out there with the same situation as yours, then the deal with the LLC might get reversed and the developer might have major problems on his hands.

 

[adjusterjack]

Gang, this poster has had a lengthy discussion going on down the street since June.

I suggest you all read it before you get involved in a rehash.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

DItto on that.

 

[bray1970]

if the title is clouded, will a title report give the specifics of why?

 

[FlyingRon]

if the title is clouded, will a title report give the specifics of why?

A title report will show all the history on the property in question including identifying things that appear to have been resolved. It can't tell however if you have a contract that indicates that the property should have been deeded to you or if there is an unrecorded claim of some sort. However, the lawyer will almost always start there in addition to viewing all your documents.

 

[bray1970]

wow, I just called a title company and told them I need to find out all info about the property with regards to the clouded title and they told me it would cost me $400. does a title report really cost that much?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

wow, I just called a title company and told them I need to find out all info about the property with regards to the clouded title and they told me it would cost me $400. does a title report really cost that much?

Yep. You need to understand this is not a 10 minutes on a computer sort of job.

 

[bray1970]

by the way. a title report won't flat out say why a property has a clouded title will it? you would need to review the entire report and then based on the information you see try to decipher why the title is clouded. is this correct?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Actually, the title report should explain any issues with the title.

 

[FlyingRon]

While the deeds may be indexed somewhat on the computer, you're paying for a lot of customized legwork. Remember, that they will be prepared to warrant their work with a title insurance policy, so they won't want to miss something.

Frankly, if you'd have done this when you bought the place, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I wouldn't even accept a gift of property from my sainted aunt without title insurance.

 

[bray1970]

I agree. I blew it and my agent really blew it. for some reason my agent said he thought the external detached garage was with the townhome (no separate title or separate parcel #). so no separate title insurance was needed for the external garage. I believed him.