Expert: Jessica Bryan - 8/11/2009

Question
Hi, my husband and I just bought our first home in Florida. It was a foreclosure and got a great deal on a true fixer-upper, but we have some worries after we closed that we have not been able to get any help with.

1 - We believe there is a section of the house that used to be a patio and they illegally closed in. We bought the house "as-is" but they at no time disclosed that there was anything illegal. We closed less than a year ago and were recently told that there was a possibility that the sellers were still responsible for bringing this up-to-code for us depending on how much time has passed (it has been less than a year), so we wanted to find out how this works.

2 - We bought this house from Bank A, who was representing Bank B, the legal owner on all records. There were several companies/banks involved in the transfer, so on our "closing" our Special Warranty Deed was signed by Bank A (not the registered owner) on November 1, and a Quit Claim Deed was signed by Company B (the registered owner) to Company A on November 18. The documents were recorded into Public record in the County in the correct order 3 months later (01/2009), but my question is... can Company A sign a property to us on November 1 that they did not own until November 18? Which date is the legal date of the document, the signed date, or the recorded date? Our biggest concern is that there is not a clean line of title and this could cause problems for us when we go to sell the house. We have tried to contact our closing agents (the Title company) and they do not understand and insist that the legal date is the recorded date and there is no overlap. What can we do?

Please help!!
Thanks!

Answer
Dear Vanessa;
Florida laws are sometimes quite different than other states.  Consequently the things that I know for my area may not apply to you. I suggest that you call the closing attorney you used and discuss with him/her.  I do know that in foreclosures, the banks make no representations and once the home has closed you cnnot go after previous owners for any problems that exist with the home even if there is a code violation.  Delivery of title is also questionable since once title gets recorded and the owners of record have signed off the home is yours.  If there is any question please check with the closing attorney.

Best wishes,
Jessica Bryan