Caveat Emptor in Virginia. What can we do?

[rodelliot]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

If you are the buyer, you can beware.

 

[rodelliot]

I detailed the whole thing in my original post but somehow nothing made it to the page!

Short version: we closed on our new home in VaBeach on October 1, 2012. In mid-November we found out that the road Lynnhaven Pkwy) our home faces is being expanded to four lanes. Having heard a runmor prior to closing that this could be the case, I asked my agent about it and was assured that the road was not being widened.

Since then, we requested a copy of the deed through our agent and it was sent to us. The deed clearly states that the previous owner sold 7' of frontage to the state of VA for $36,900 to accomodate the building of a 14' sound wall!!! Our house faces the road and is the only house on the 1 1/2 mile expansion that does. Our situation is unique.

Neither the title company nor the closing attorney (one in the same, btw) advised us of this situation though it was clearly spelled out on the deed. We were never shown the deed at any point in the process so there is no way that we could have known. Our agent failed us. Te title insurance company appears to have failed us and the closing attorney also seems to have failed us. We're stuck now in a home that will lose tens of thousands of dollars in value due to the location of the sound barrier wall.

Adding insult to injury, the neighborhood voted unanimously for the barrier wall several years ago and each of the homeowners whose homes were on the Parkway sold their slivers of property to the state. This wall only affects the side of their homes.

Lastly, the state purchased and demolished the other four houses along the 1 1/2 mile expansion that faced the Parkway. Ours actually sits on a corner. The house faces the main road but our driveway is on a side road.

Given that VA is a caveat emptor state, what recourse do we have?

 

[FlyingRon]

Nope, nobody else has any responsibility for your failure to do proper due diligence. Title companies have no responsibility on such issues (either to inform or warrant). A closing attorney doesn't even go near that sort of thing. Verbal representations don't mean much.

 

[swalsh411]

Why did you not ask to see the title for yourself?

 

[nextwife]

Did the title report and deed NOT correctly describe, legally, the parcel that you were buying?

 

[HomeGuru]

**A: Next time verify all rumors and get things in writing from the source to know fact from fiction.