$98,000 mistake

[MTR]

This is very interesting, I got an email this morning from my lawyer in USA.

Apparently, a Lawyer representing his client in USA has inadvertently deeded a property over to my LLC instead of their client?s LLC.

I viewed the property on Zillow and surprise, surprise it settled 12 months ago. This major error has now come to light because the property is on the market/pending, which means it is "under offer" at $98,000.

If I do not sign a corrective deed, I was told that the lawyer in USA has to wear this cost.

I have just sent the email to my US accountant and asked my lawyer to clarify further. I will sign a corrective deed, but need to ensure there are no nasty surprises for me.

The lawyer who settled this property should be shot, and the true owners clearly did not view any documentation ie HUD Statement, title deed, and why they did not ask for this is very strange.

MTR

 

[nhg]

This is very interesting, I got an email this morning from my lawyer in USA.

Apparently, a Lawyer representing his client in USA has inadvertently deeded a property over to my LLC instead of their client?s LLC.

I viewed the property on Zillow and surprise, surprise it settled 12 months ago. This major error has now come to light because the property is on the market/pending, which means it is "under offer" at $98,000.

If I do not sign a corrective deed, I was told that the lawyer in USA has to wear this cost.

I have just sent the email to my US accountant and asked my lawyer to clarify further. I will sign a corrective deed, but need to ensure there are no nasty surprises for me.

The lawyer who settled this property should be shot, and the true owners clearly did not view any documentation ie HUD Statement, title deed, and why they did not ask for this is very strange.

MTR

Wow.

Lucky for the lawyer:
1. you are a decent person to sign a corrective deed;
2. the property was a cheapie, in Sydney, he would have gone bankrupt or taken a pretty hefty hit.

 

[MTR]

Karma can be a *****

There was a thread on SS where a builder built a home on the wrong block of land and he was taking a government department to court over this. Have to wonder how can these mistakes happen??

 

[karina]

Would be interesting to know what would happen if you didn't willingly sign the corrective deed. Fortunatly for the buyer you will of course sign it. I would think the lawyer that did the closing would have to take responsibilty and make it right.

Must be every attorney's worst nightmare to make that kind of mistake. I can imagine the orginal purchasor must be very stressed about the situation also.

Keep us posted!

 

[MTR]

Will do.

Still can not believe that the true owners did not ask for the Title Deed and HUD Statement which would clearly have details on buyer etc.

 

[karina]

I suspect they must have seen it but not picked up on the error.

 

[jim1964]

builder built a home on the wrong block of land

I could show you a example of this in Clarendon SA,house was half finished in 1977 on a rural lot,at this stage it was found it was wrong side of a rural fenceline,still stands today,half finished.

 

[starter]

Wow.

Lucky for the lawyer:
2. the property was a cheapie, in Sydney, he would have gone bankrupt or taken a pretty hefty hit.

I would expect the lawyer to have professional liability insurance, unless he took it out in the name of the wrong law firm.

 

[MTR]

Would you believe I just had someone come to my home and asked me about my LLC and USA property.

Apparently the actual owner of this property is from Brisbane and his brother lives in Perth, so do I.

Once I get some clarification from my lawyer etc it should be sorted out and deeded back to the actual owner. I spoke to him on the phone, he was in panic mode, don't blame him.

MTR

 

[perthguy]

Would you believe I just had someone come to my home and asked me about my LLC and USA property.

Apparently the actual owner of this property is from Brisbane and his brother lives in Perth, so do I.

That's pretty amazing.

 

[stumpie]

Would you believe I just had someone come to my home and asked me about my LLC and USA property.

Apparently the actual owner of this property is from Brisbane and his brother lives in Perth, so do I.

Once I get some clarification from my lawyer etc it should be sorted out and deeded back to the actual owner. I spoke to him on the phone, he was in panic mode, don't blame him.

MTR

MTR

They should take you and your significant other out to your fav restaurant.

 

[MTR]

Ha ha

No, definitely not, just found out the reason the poor guy is selling is because he has had disaster after disaster, firstly the purchase was through none other than US Invest, he paid too much for the property and has had nothing but headaches. He purchased 3 using this company, so he has made very little money, he will possibly break even due to Au$.

Shame, I fear this is probably what has happened to most who invested in USA.

 

[perthguy]

Ha ha

No, definitely not, just found out the reason the poor guy is selling is because he has had disaster after disaster, firstly the purchase was through none other than US Invest, he paid too much for the property and has had nothing but headaches. He purchased 3 using this company, so he has made very little money, he will possibly break even due to Au$.

Shame, I fear this is probably what has happened to most who invested in USA.

I have heard of a few that got burnt. At the peak of buying I read an article by some who had done well and they set out the process for buying. It was very involved for them as they personally inspected houses and talked to local real estate agents etc. I don't think many were prepared to put that much into it.

 

[Ausprop]

Would you believe I just had someone come to my home and asked me about my LLC and USA property.

Apparently the actual owner of this property is from Brisbane and his brother lives in Perth, so do I.

Once I get some clarification from my lawyer etc it should be sorted out and deeded back to the actual owner. I spoke to him on the phone, he was in panic mode, don't blame him.

MTR

is your address public information? (and when are the scones on?)

 

[MTR]

is your address public information? (and when are the scones on?)

Thats another story, what a fiasco, no scones for me, bring on the wine, this has been a crazy day for me

 

[ChrisA1]

Thats another story, what a fiasco, no scones for me, bring on the wine, this has been a crazy day for me

mmm, midnight email... hope you slept well.

Thanks for sharing, these stories are a great learning. I'm sure you're feeling relieved that you're on your side of the fence and not in their shoes, and I'm sure they're (slightly) relieved that you're working with them to resolve it....

 

[MTR]

I am up all hours of the evening, but I get to sleep in if I want fortunately.

An Update
All resolved, my accountant/lawyer have stated in writing wont be a problem to deed back the property to the rightful owner. Even if the lawyer was liable as it was his error I would not want to be progressing this via the US courts, I expect costs would kill you.

Also found out he has 2 properties in Memphis and 1 in Atlanta all purchased via US Invest, he claims they ripped him off and one of his properties remained vacant for 6 months, must be in the nice part of town

What really surprises me is he is not a property investor in Australia however decided to invest in USA where the risks are much higher of course.

For every successful investor in US market I am sure there are 100s that got burnt.

Even with this bad experience this guy plans to use the funds from the sale of his US property to purchase another, he wont be using US Invest. Hope it all works out for him, have given him some contacts, the rest is up to him.

MTR

 

[ellejay]

Amazing story and a timely reminder of what can go wrong. Glad you got it sorted out.