Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Disclosures
We are in the middle of a land dispute. I have contacted many of the city agencies to find help. I came across a document that was not disclosed by the owner/agent that sold us the house. We have a CC&R and a common area.( The CC&R states only the city attorney can change the document, he says that he can't help us) The former owners signed the transfer disclosure statement that there were none of the above. They bought the property from the owners who set up the CC&R. We have contacted the title co and when we signed the closing documents there was something in there about it. We of course did not read the fine print. Its nearly impossible when you are signing the pages and pages of closing documents. We have discovered that our garage encroaches onto the next door property. Somewhere along the line something slipped through the cracks and we are trying to correct the situation. We are trying to do a lot line adjustment and in order to remedy the situation with the 2 other owners of the pud we need to try and give the owner of the first house a portion of the common area that sits in front of his house. This would give each owner the access we need to get to the side of the house that is over on each others property.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Disclosures
First of all you have a potential cause of action against the prior owner as well as the title company. There are strict statutes of limitation, especially against the title company and I would immediately seek the native attorney. More likely than not you'll never have the city office aid you in a dispute such as this. Damages would be based upon the value of your property with the restriction, and what you would have to do to deal with your neighbor to rectify this situation. I'm not for sure from your question what the status is within neighbor. Whether they are trying to enforce their right or not. Your costs in dealing with the neighbor because of the problem would also be additional potential damages against the title company and the former owner. I would get the title company involved immediately as they possibly could deal with this situation to your benefit as well as theirs. I am attorney in northern California and if you would like I would be more than happy to discuss this situation with you personally.
Re: Disclosures
I believe that you have much better solutions than moving your garage. Call me directly at (619) 222-3504.
Re: Disclosures
You really have a number of issues which need to be addressed, and this is one of those situations where you really need to take all your documents to an attorney who can review them and give you some specific advice, as the internet forum is not efficient for that purpose. First, check your title policy and see what kind it is; likely it is a standard CLTA, but if an ALTA, some of those cover you for encroachments, and in that case you would want to tender a claim to your title insurer. With regard to a lot line adjustment, that can be done, of course, but requires not only a survey of the properties and the drafting of two new legal descriptions, but also releases from any lenders who have security interests on both properties, etc., etc; your city public works/engineering department can give you all the requirements to get approval, so go to them relative to this aspect. Lastly, if you are looking to pursue the seller who sold the property to you, you are best served by seeking the advice of an attorney, who will review the facts and the remedies avialable to you and whether it makes monetary sense to go after them--many factors play into this, such as whether they have moved out of the state, whether they can truthfully allege they also knew nothing, etc. Our office handles this type of matter, but if you are not in Orange County, you may wish to consult wth some local attorney to assist you--good luck!
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