Expert: Dottie Worthington - 8/18/2008

Question
QUESTION: Howdy. I'll skip alot of the details to keep this short as possible. My Father-In-Law moved to the US from Perú about 2 years ago. He bought a 83' double wide about 2 years prior to his moving from a friend of ours to move to a lot and live in. There was nothing more than a hand written acknowledgment of the transaction. After he moved up here he decided to sell it instead of live there. When he requested the title, the previous owner informed him that he did not have a title. It had been given to him by his Father-In-Law who only had a hand written bill of sale which after serching for he could not find. It appears that there were several transactions with this house but they were never recorded with the state, which means there were no taxes paid on those tranactions, so it would take quite abit of time & incure some expences. This info was never disclosed to us prior to the sale. My Father-In-Law has requested for the return of his money (12,000), or the title. The previous owner stated that he would return the money minus "some expences he incurred". I don't know the amount. I will also mention that he rented this trailer maybe a year or so after my Father-In-Law purchased it, which the previous owner kept the funds. My primary question is regarding the responsibility of disclosing the title issue.
Thanks for your time.

ANSWER: Wow! I am so sorry that happened. Just another incident where a FSBO has gone bad. If a REALTOR had helped him with the purchase that would not have happened. Oh well, lesson learned. Your father in law has a good case if he wants to pay another $12,000 for an attorney. Or my best solution to offer is ask for the money back, less the cost of living there. That would probably be the best thing. (cheapest), Then go buy a brick home, not a mobile! Maybe this is a blessing in a round about way.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for your helpful response. The sellers thought is he sold it as is. My understanding of "as is" of any item that would normally have a title/deed, i.e. an auto, truck, boat, motorcycle, house, property, etc, would be the pysical condition of the property but not have anything to do with the title. All of the items listed above that I've ever bought "as is" I bought with the understanding I was getting it in it's existing condition. I never had a thought of there not being a title. That would be a seperate declaration. So legally, would the lack of a clear title be required to be disclosed regardless of buying it as is?
Thanks, again.
PS. What is FSBO?

Answer
Yes, "as Is" has to do with condition only. Not the title. The Title is normally conveyed at closing. It doesn't sound like he had a "closing". But it does sound like the seller knew what he was doing was deceitful, and that is what carries the most weight should it go to court.