Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Go to the County Recorder's Office and get someone to show you where the plot maps are kept or go on line and see if you can get the information. That will give you the Assessor's Parcel number [it would in California]; the Tax Collectors Office will have records showing the mailing address they use to send out the tax bills to each APN. Look to see if that property is taxed as being improved [has a building on it] or not; check on what you bought.

You will then need to find out what Tennessee law is as to obtaining a property you do not own by adverse possession, which may require you to pay the taxes on the house and property it sits on. Do not speak to the real owners of the property until you fully know what your legal rights are.

Did you make it clear to everyone when you bought the property that you wanted to buy a lot with a house on it. Did the seller and his realtor know this from you or someone? Does the deed that was transferred to you state that there is a house on it?

The title insurance company guarantees that the information they provide to you is accurate. That should include what the taxes are; there should be a large difference between the taxes on a house and on a lot. They seem clearly negilgent and are under the obligation to pay you back the amount you though you were paying for the house ad not the land. They will argue that 5 years has passed and your claim should be barred by the statute of limitations; you should argue that you were not aware of their breach of contract until now, or that it was a fraudulent transfer that you did not realize until now. Nnone of these are great arguments. You need to tell the seller,realtor, and title company and ask what they will do to correct the error.

The part of your question in which you admit you have fault is part of your attempt to secure legal counsel and, you should argue, thus privileged under the attorney-client privilege and should not be revealed. Do not tell anyone but the attorney you hire about this posting.

Once you have gotten the answers to the above, you can post another question containing that information to see what else can be done.

Start out by recognizing that Tennessee law, not California law, applies to all aspects of this problem. Re-ask your question, being sure to identify it as a TN not a CA issue, so lawyers who know Tennessee law will be alerted to respond!

Mr. Whipple is right. Mr. Shers, on the other hand, should not have answered your question and you should not rely on his advice. Real property law varies greatly from state to state. You need to ask your question of Tennessee lawyers, not us Californians.

I agree with Mr. Whipple and Mr. McCormick. You need to repost this question in Tennessee as your question involves issues of Tennessee's real estate law, which may be very different from California law.