Would a title search reveal a lawsuit the an owner had against the builder of a property? Generally speaking, what does a title search check for?
I purchased a property and I received verbal testimony from a former tenant after the fact, that there are “structural issues” with the property. I’m in the process of trying to verify that.
Do I have a case if the seller deliberately deceived me by not disclosing that to be the case? If I were to file a lawsuit?
I might be wrong but I don’t think that a title search would reveal something like that. your best bet would be to talk to an attorney.
good luck and God bless
You will have to get affidavit from that tanent that the former owner indeed knew about the issue at the time he sold the prop. to you.
After that you will have see if the owner has disclosed this information to you … if you have AS IS clause in your contract you may not have any case but if you don’t and you can proove that owner has not disclosed this issue purposefully then judge may be on your side.
It will cost you money. I would have the property inspected… didn’t you inspect the property when you bought it?
I would never buy anything in Real Estate without inspecting it propertly. This may be a hard learned lesson and may have to sollow it.
If the seller has filed a lawsuit against the builder it should be a matter of public record that you can verify. If the suit was filed prior to your purchase and pertains to issues that now impair the value of the property then the suit against the builder would be a wealth of information for you to consider prior to filing your own lawsuit if that’s the route you chose. good luck
Thanks guys. So I had my own independent certified engineer check the property out after the fact and found no glaring structural issues. Although, as 71tr mentioned I did go down to the courthouse and did retrieve all of the paperwork for the lawsuit the previous owner filed against the builder, citing that the entire structure was damaged and sinking, but no actual engineer’s report was filed with the casework. The case went on for about a year and then was discontinued with prejudice.
Either they settled out of court or the lawsuit was dropped, I suppose.
Settled with prejudice sounds like it was thrown out for lack of supporting evidence (my interpretation). Good work on digging up the facts. I’m sure you feel much better about the investment.
Thanks I’ve done so to see what my options are. Most attorney’s I spoke to say the law is black and white, but i heard there’s some statue that says a seller must reveal structural or foundation issue.