Expert: Dick Dennis - 5/1/2005

Question
I have recently paid off a property that I live on that was bought on contract from Party D, I contacted D to find out about getting deed and abstract and was informed that the property was still in A's name, that the property had been sold on contract 5 times including myself and the deed and abstract had never been updated during this time.  What legal recourse do I have and what should I do to get the deed and abstract?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. At wits end...Thank you Barbra

Answer
This is not going to be simple, Barbra. But you must be patient as it plays itself out. Or, you will have to engage a REAL ESTATE attorney to untangle that mess.

First you must insist upon a deed from "D." This is probably where an attorney may be in play, forcing "D" to get the deed from "C," who in turn will be forced to get it from "B" and finally from "A."

You're going to need that REAL ESTATE attorney or at least someone who knows how to handle the whole mess. By the way, when you engage the attorney, make sure that each one of your preceding owners pay their share of the attorney fees.

If be some chance that any one of the links in that chain is no longer alive, then you may need to take it to court. The attorney will know what to do in your state.

One last suggestion. Go to a title company and tell them your plight. They might be able to help at a nominal fee.

By the way, my wife's maiden name was BARBARA ROBERTS.

I wish you well.

Dick Dennis   dixiedee13@aol.com