No Tax Search

[tsh14439]

New York State - In 1998 I sold property. B oth the buyer and I were represented by the same attorney (now the County District Attorney). I paid $200.00 for services which included a tax search - so did the buyer. Last week I received a foreclosure notice on the property because of unpaid 1997 taxes. Neither the buyer nor I have had any previous notification that there were any unpaid taxes. My question is - what now. I sold in good faith and the buyer bought in good faith. The one phone call that the attorney's paralegal returned was that they had called the County Treasurer's Office and were told that there were no unpaid taxes, but now they were told that verbal statements issued from that office were not honored. Repeated phone calls have gone unanswered by the attorney's office - now all matters handled by the DA's wife, another attorney. I offered to pay the back taxes, but thought the attorney should pick up the 2 year's worth of interest fees and the $150. search fee that the County Treasurer's Office imposed since the attorney was already paid $400.00 for something that obviously wasn't done - a clear title. What are my options Thanks

 

[Tracey]

That sounds like a very reasonable offer to me. Write him a letter setting out those terms. Include a copy of your fee agreement specifying that a tax search was supposed to be done, and that he billed you for it, but didn't do the work.

Billing for work you don't do is called theft and the State Bar Disciplinary Board will not be happy with Mr. DA. Tell him that you won't file a complaint with the bar if he pays the portion of the tax arrearage that is due to his inactions. (This is called 'negotiation' instead of extortion because you have a valid claim & he doesn't want the Bar to hear about this. ) Don't mention criminal charges - it's usually a crime to offer not to press charges in exchange for $$.

Write back and tell us how it goes,
Tracey

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.