boundary lines

[Rena]

My in-laws passed away in the last six months. My husband is now in the process of selling several of the estate's commercial properties in Pennsylvania. One property in particular was a single parcel subdivided into four parts. Forty years ago, my father-in-law placed improvements consisting of a driveway and four attached commercial storefronts on the lot. This same building has been in place for over forty years. My husband sold two of the buildings with the assistance of a realtor, a real estate attorney and a mortgage company. Two months after the sale, the purchaser claims that he had a survey of the property performed and the lots we sold to him include the land under the two buildings that we intended to convey but also ten feet of another of the attached stores that was not intended to be a part of the sale. He is claiming that he now owns this property and is demanding a portion of the rent proceeds we are receiving from the tenant of that store among other things.

My question is threefold. 1) Who would have been responsible for determining that what we were conveying is what we meant to convey, nothing more or less, the attorney, the title company or us?
2)Do we have to reform the deed to reflect the different lot lines to assure that we are conveying just what we want to convey, or is there some operation of law that automatically did that because of the length of time the improvements have been on the land in that position and 3) If we do have to reform the deed, what is the most efficient way to do so?

Thank you

 

[Wilson W]

It would be essential for a Pennsylvania real estate specialist to carefully examine all the fact and all the papers involved. My sense is that the other party is going to lose and seeking to extort money from you -- like they're playning "got ya".

If you used an attorney to represent you (not just at the closing) s/he is clearly involved, and absent something you did against his/her instructions, he would have exposure for malpractice. You may have to sue the attorney so be cautious. Explain what has happened and tell him that you expect him to rectify matters immediately, and at no charge. If he balks, go to another real estate lawyer immediately and get a second opinion. The title company usually protects the buyer's interests, not the sellers'.