Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
I bought a property while I was in college. When purchasing I got title insurance from First American Title (at the time, the seller suggested I use them because that’s who HE used and they did a great job).
3 weeks after buying the place, I get served by a Sheriff. Lawsuit says I’m in unlawful possession of someone else’s property. What? So, I sent a letter to my title company and told them to handle it. No problem. They hired a lawyer who responded.
Background: Some guy that owned the house 10 or 15 years before had lost it in a lawsuit judgement. The house was quickly sold off. Later, the lawsuit was over turned and he wanted his property back (this part took place in Dixie County to give you an idea of what type of court dealings were going on).
So, the previous owner sued the SELLER (guy I bought it from). The seller did the same thing I did, told First American (the title company). And they fought it for years. So, seller decides to sell the property and not disclose this little problem to me.
Title company doesn’t say anything either. I didn’t know any of this until one day in court the attorney provided to us mentioned how she was so sick of dealing with this guy, Tim, who was trying to sue for the property he lost.
I did some research and realized it was big cover up by the seller and the title company. This went on for YEARS, as this guy wouldn’t go away. College ends and I need to move to another city.
I can’t sell the house because no one in their right mind would buy a house they know they are going to sued for. And…get this…First American will not hold the title again. They tell me to find someone else.
So, I sued both the seller and the title company. Scraped every penny I had to keep it going. It came down to my last dime, but we got them to settle. Which was basically paying me for what I owed on the house (no where near what I should have gotten) and (best part) the SELLER had to buy the house back.
I think they are still battling it to this day. Same guy. Story credit: Reddit / caribbeanmeat