How do I go about suing my real estate attorney? (appraised, mortgage)
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Recently I went into contract on my "two family" home in Queens, NY. We are using the same attorney that we used to buy this house. While we were recently in contract to sell the house we found out that the C of O for the home comes back to a "One Family Home"! Upon further research and while my attorney was becoming evasive, I found out that the title company that was used when we purchased the house uncovered the fact that it was a one family home prior to our closing in 2004!!! HOW and WHY did this fact fail to be disclosed when we bought the home??? The house was listed by the broker as a 2 fam., We were appraised for a 2 fam., the NYC Dept. of Finance carries the home as a 2 fam., we received a mortgage from Wells Fargo for a two family and our deed states that we closed on a 2 family home in 2004! I have all the paperwork from the closing and the research that I did through the Department of Buildings! I need to sue some people because there has to be some sort of recourse for this event! Even if there is a statute of limitations, as an unknowing buyer who paid hard earned money to a lawer and a title company whom are supposed to protect us, failed us. What do we do? I guess that suing is the only answer!!
First, you sue your attorney by obtaining a new attorney. Sarcastic, yes, but correct answer...
Second, check with the title company because you should have title insurance for things like this. They might owe you just through your payout on the insurance, not necessarily by "suing" them.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to call 10 attorneys in your county and ask them, if they were going to sue an attorney, who would they hire. Eventually, a name will come up more than once......I did this (only on a divorce matter). I sent my (former) attorney an email to hand over all my files to attorney "x" and wow, unbelievable. Not only was my legal bill dropped from 5 figures to zero, but things happened quickly. Turns out the name that surfaced (in a major metro area) was the known attorney to take on attorney malpractice suits.
If you have a "general warranty deed" to your property, then the title insurance company is on the hook to make good on the defect(s).
You don't need to sue them, but you do need to contact them with the problem you have uncovered and let them do the job they've been paid to do to protect your interest and make you whole. Given that everything else is in order for a two-family property, perhaps they can get a CO issued to reflect that use.
If you have a "general warranty deed" to your property, then the title insurance company is on the hook to make good on the defect(s).
You don't need to sue them, but you do need to contact them with the problem you have uncovered and let them do the job they've been paid to do to protect your interest and make you whole. Given that everything else is in order for a two-family property, perhaps they can get a CO issued to reflect that use.
While this is true, it is still the best advice to contact an attorney, at the very least to get an initial consultation and see what other options there are.
I actually looked in to suing a real estate attorney. In the end I decided it just wasn't worth it. But, I did learn something very important. I have no idea if this was specific to NJ or applies elsewhere and I'm sure I won't get this exactly right, but you can't just sue an attorney like you can someone else. You have to have another attorney review/prepare something for the courts to determine if the case has any merit. I was told this is to protect lawyers because otherwise every person who lost a case would then turn around and sue their lawyers.
Although I'm not familiar with the laws of NY, aren't you paying less taxes because you're paying on a 1 family home instead of 2? May be he thought he was doing you a favor if this was the case? I fail to see how this is negatively affecting you. Can you elaborate plz.
Actually, I could sue my attorney, but I could not receive any financial gain for losses I incurred. Not sure why, but there's some kind of protection within the legal system. He "settled" by erasing my bill due to the E & O hassles and rate increases he would have experienced as a result of my suit. It was in his best interest to avoid any court action. He knew I had him (all email communications from his office). But he could not be forced to pay me for my losses. Cancelling his bill was a small concession. I lost as much, if not more, as he erased.
Actually, I could sue my attorney, but I could not receive any financial gain for losses I incurred. Not sure why, but there's some kind of protection within the legal system. He "settled" by erasing my bill due to the E & O hassles and rate increases he would have experienced as a result of my suit. It was in his best interest to avoid any court action. He knew I had him (all email communications from his office). But he could not be forced to pay me for my losses. Cancelling his bill was a small concession. I lost as much, if not more, as he erased.
I wonder how financial gain for losses incurred is interrupted in NY. To me a reimbursement for losses is not a gain unless the reimbursement is for more than the loss - if you are reimbursed for just the amount of the loss I personally see no gain.
- but i'm not the attorney or the judge.
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