Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

I purched a home and when i did the seller included the lot and trailer next door to it for free. The lot and trailer next door is on it's own parcel and is no way included in the mortgage of the house. When I refinanced the home I ordered a new survey and appraisal to move the property line over 9 feet to give my lot and trailer next door 9 more feet of land taking 9 feet away from the home and lot I was refinancing. The bank was aware of this. When the mortgage papers were drawn up the title company mistakenly used the old legal discription instead of using the legal description from the new survey. I did not know this until I defaulted on my loan and the foreclosure proceedings began. The county has the correct legal description and the bank wants the county to change the legal description back to the old one and are staking claim to the 9 feet as part of the mortgage. I have contacted the title co. who made the error at closing and have opened a claim. They are now trying to reach the attorney for the bank who will not return their calls to correct the mistake. The title co. has stated they "may consider" hiring an atty to get a response from them or they can wait until we have a court date for the foreclosure and have the judge rule on the matter. I have given written objections to the attorney for the bank and to the court. I have also given the title co. all the information they need to clearly see the mistake they made. My question is, what other steps should I take to get this corrected. If the judge rules in favor of the bank can I then sue the title co. for the mistake? If the attorney for the bank would pull the files they will clearly see the survey description that we used at closing does not match the legal description in the mortgage papers. The appraisal was also based on the new survey however I have never been supplied a copy of the appraisal. Would this be good enough for a judge to rule in our favor?

Thank you! Kim


Asked on 9/24/10, 12:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Shelly Schellenberg MI & FL private practice

You have gone to great lengths to correct a mistake that would have been easy to prevent. You would be smart to have a real estate attorney look over your papers. Waiting to see if the judge rules against you, for lack of action that can be taken now, will be a costly mistake.

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Answered on 9/29/10, 12:53 pm


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