Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

I purchased a home in jan,. 2013 for rental income, the home is part of an HOA. The hoa assumed ownership of the property from the prior owners estate (deed in lieu?) Due to unpaid fees. I hired and paid for title search and insurance, and was given a free and clear title with no open permits. The original search was done in Nov 2012 and we closed Jan 2013.
I now have the property under contract to sell and the same title company is serving the buyer and has now found an open permit with our cities building department. The open permit originates from 1996 for an AC unit install. The title company, remember this is the same company buyer is now closing with, received a clean lein and permit search and now this open permit is showing up when the buyer is doing his search.
The title company is not assuming responsibility for the "defect" of their search because they claim they were given incorrect information from the city. The city claims a temp working provided the incorrect information and basically said its our problem (the seller).
Upon inspection from my AC company, the AC unit was replaced in July 2012, under the ownership of the HOA. However There was NO PERMIT filed with the city. The contractor who replaced the unit in 2012 is a licensed bonded and insured contractor in my state. Upon further inspection the AC was not installed up to code in my city. The AC contractor admited to installing the air handler and compressor and found the job in his computer without problem, however when i asked him to furnish me with a copy of the permit, he was unable to do so.
What is my recourse? What am I legally responsible for?

Asked on 5/15/14, 11:05 am

David Slater David P. Slater, Esq.

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Hire a new contractor and have the AC done correctly.

Answered on 5/17/14, 9:32 am

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