| Author | Message | ||
     Thumper74 |
I haven't done anything wrong... Earlier this year (February/March), I was house shopping and came across an affordable property. Long story short, the day before closing the title company found an issue with the deed as there were three lots on the deed. The deal fell through and I backed out as the seller was unwilling to compromise. I was able to get all but my inspection money back. A little over a month ago, my mother found my name in the newspaper as purchasing the house in June. I was intrigued. I got on the county's website and found the information. The current owner paid cash for the house, but ALL of the documents are in my name. The tax information has my old (married) address on it, so I know it's not just someone with the same name. I have family that works for the electric company and they found the name of the person who is on the billing statement, but it's not me. Obviously, I'm pretty stressed out. I've called the county auditor and they basically told me it's not their problem. I've called the title company and no one has gotten back to me. I feel like I have three options: Go to the house and tell them to get the eff off my property, file a police report, or lawyer up and sue the pants off of everyone to get noticed. I reality... where do I go from here? | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Holy crap!! I would put the house up for sale!! haha ... Seriously, I don't know what you can do legally. I guess I would speak to a real estate person confidentially or a real estate lawyer. Good Luck. | ||
| Etennuly |
You might seek legal advice beyond the scope of BadWeB! If they got you as owner now what if they walk away? What if they add loans and second mortgages?  | ||
| Thumper74 |
They paid cash. No issue on my credit report yet, but thanks for freaking me out. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Get proper counsel fast. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Maybe you should call the police or sheriff. Sounds like a case of fraud. | ||
| Macbuell |
Yeah, I wouldn't screw around on that one at all. I'd call the cops, get legal advice, really all of the above. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'd start by taking possession of the property. Then I'd sell it. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Get a PO box and put a change of address in at the local PO. Contact utilities too... see if that is in your name as well...shut them down. | ||
| Thumper74 |
It's literally half a mile away. There are people living there... | ||
| Xdigitalx |
WOW. Ever do a background check on yourself? Wonder if that would give you any insight? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Paid with cash = organized crime? Be careful. Lawyer up. | ||
| Bads1 |
Go to register of deeds. Bring the newspaper sale notice. Something can be done. | ||
| Teeps |
Now that you started this Thumper, keep us informed of the outcome. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Bads, that's what I did. They said they only file what they're given, so the passed the buck to the title company and attorney who prepared all the documents. Natexlh, I had considered just showing up to the door, explain the situation since they would be inclined to push and have it taken care of so they would actually own the house they purchased, but the drug trafficker/meth addict side of it threw the brakes on that one. | ||
| Loki |
Yup, lawyer up and fast! Having stayed at the local Holiday Inn Express... If all the legal paperwork says you own it. It wont matter who paid cash for it. | ||
| Blk_uly |
go to the county property appraisers web sight and verify every thing first. You don't want to call too much attention to it just yet when it my not be true. | ||
| Thumpthump |
inform the person living there that since your name is on title, you are going to sell the house. When they put up a fuss, have the correct owner rescinded the original deed and record a correction deed. that should take care of it and you wont have to sign anything. | ||
| Strokizator |
I'd put a FOR SALE sign with my cell # on it in the front yard. You should get a call within minutes. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The person living there my not even know about this. This may be a money laundering thing with the residents paying some crime boss rent. The residents may think that they just got a good place to live with decent rent rate and have no idea of wrongdoing. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Um, you may want to call any bank you have an account or credit card with and freeze your accounts for a while. If your name is starting to show up on fraudulent transactions then you need to protect yourself in the meantime. | ||
| Macbuell |
Agreed with Griff. You can put a lock on your credit which means someone cannot open any type of account using your information unless they have the password to unlock the credit. I would do that asap. | ||
| Satori |
Thumper74, Ok This is flat out Fraud. I was a Realtor for 10 yrs and something like this is a nightmare for a Title Co. So whoever is involved also had fake ID's. You do not go to their door. Take the above advice, Get a Real Estate Attorney, and call the cops. Who knows why they bought it, it could be a money laundering, or hell could be a safe house for less than desirable types. Doing what these folks did is not easy, there are safe guards in place for this, so the fact they accomplished it, well not good. On the credit front, don't rely on calling your accounts to do a credit freeze. They may not report it to all 3 bureaus I see this all the time, someone thinks they handled it but not all 3 were called. So Call them yourself, Transunion, Experian, Equifax, their contact info is on the web. Here's why, MOST investors for home loans want a tri-merge, all 3 credit reports. But there are some, and FHA, and Fannie Mae will allow only 2. So a cash out refi is a possibility, and that would be on your credit. Also, Many lenders for auto loans and personal loans will only look at one credit report, so they could take out a loan for that in your name. Also, them getting credit cards etc, just got easy, they obviously have your ID. The next thing I would do is sign up for Citi Banks ID monitoring service. (I am not affiliated in any way) It used to be a buck for the first month, and 13 a month after that, but gives you the ability to see all 3 bureaus and be able to monitor any inquires on your credit, etc. Also their scoring is pretty close to the score model that lenders use to actually grant credit - most scores online are pure fantasy (the Vantage score is a farce btw). Good luck to you, Satori | ||
| Airbozo |
An in-law of mine had an almost identical issue. It turns out that the title company filed the paperwork by parcel number and in a rush to file paperwork with the county, they filed the papers from my in-laws (your position) instead of the buyer, because that is the file that was first under the parcel number. I would first contact the county _in person_ and explain the situation to a supervisor. They might be able to verify that the deed is or is not in your name. This will not show up on your credit report unless loan papers were filed as well. If this does not help, then contact a lawyer that specializes in real estate transactions. The title company is the one that must fix it if they filed the wrong paperwork (sometimes including reimbursing you for your out of pocket expenses to fix this). It is their ass on the line if they made a mistake and their license can be suspended by the state for something like this. Without threatening, make sure they know this. If they feel their business is going to be affected they will act fast. For all you conspiracy theorists, cash real estate transactions are very common, especially in today's market. It is something like 30-40% of the sales. Do NOT attempt to take possession of the property. This will be considered fraud since you know you did not purchase it. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Taking possession was a joke... In my case, I never purchased the house and never owned it. I still think it's a case of royally messed up paperwork, but I'm still having a hard time getting anyone to give a damn | ||
| Azxb9r |
You might seek legal advice beyond the scope of BadWeB! Ditto | ||
| Thumper74 |
The title company indicated that it was a clerical error... They have filed the correct paperwork to get it fixed already. Waiting from this point. I'll be really happy if I don't have to sign anything. | ||
| Brumbear |
You better make sure they don't take a boat load of home equity loans in your name!!! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Hopefully you got the name, date, and time of the conversation you had with the title company. That way if anything wonky does go down, you have that information in your pocket... | ||
| Slaughter |
It doesn't matter WHAT Badweb says - what has your real estate attorney told you to do? That should be the very next post you make. Let's hope it's a simple clerical error that THEY will correct. This sucks about a dozen different ways. (Message edited by slaughter on September 10, 2013) | ||
| Rick_a |
That is one hell of an error. Having just purchased a home I don't see how that could have been done by accident. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Being someone who got bent over hard for every piece of information about me when attempting to buy, I don't see how it could have happened. I document the crap out of everything when it comes to anything even remotely like this. |
