Talk of The Villages Florida - Purchase of Pre-owned home but cheated by Title company who miscalculated tax

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Double commission..means realtor sold his listing.. he received full commission not split with another agent..

I believe ALL parties on the seller's side bares responsibility for the error. The real estate agent has an obligation to confirm the HUD is correct, the title company has an obligation to do their job correctly and the seller has an obligation to correct the error.

They do not. If a realtor brings both seller and buyer together in a transaction they do not have to split the commission with another realtor. We also split with our broker

I am in the same situation except the seller owes me $2000 for taxes. The seller lived in the house only 1 year so his taxes were based on the previous owner's homestead and SOH tax bill. The title company based the proration on the previous bill and we both signed a document saying we would adjust between ourselves when the actual tax bill came out.

Both realtors tried to get the seller to pay up but he ignored them. The only person to blame contractually is the seller. Everyone else did their job. What can you do? Move on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skunky1 (Post 1873149)

There was no error made by anyone. The seller owes the buyer money based on an agreement they made to adjust the tax amount when the final tax bill was issued. Not unusual on a resale.

We sold our house at the beginning of the pandemic. The morning of closing I lost my TV ID card. Called Lisa Zdrodowski at Pennisula and she said that was fine as long as I had the gate card which I did. When our check came in the mail $100 was deducted from it for the ID card. At the time TV was charging you $10 for a lost card. We have made numerous calls to Lisa and our sales rep Addam Roma but no refund. The appliances in our new home were terrible as were the sliding doors and windows. If you ask me, TV is smoke and mirrors and do not care one bit about house owners.

Too bad you could not name the Title company in your writeup Their lack of professionalism perhaps could impact future business and would at least steer many from using them in the future. Poor customer service and lack of consideration for clients.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EileenK (Post 1873172)

Wow, I did not realize it cost that much to replace a card now, good information. Very sorry to hear about your experience. We moved at this same time you did and had a couple of issues, too. I called Home Warranty and they in turn contacted the builder who ended up getting one of our appliances replaced, with the help of Addam Roma. Our upsetting issue at the time worked out OK. I am very sorry to hear about your experience.

Nobody knew the tax amount in June. It had to be estimated based upon best info at time (last year's bill). Everyone signs at closing a document that says they will cooperate with closing agents (Title Co.) after the closing should there be a paperwork problem. There is here. You need to lean on the Title Company management to get this corrected. That is the job they were paid to do. The former owner can make it hard for you as he doesn't live here, but he owes you money.

You got a great deal at a crazy low rate. And now you are complaining about $590? Hardwood floors and a paid off bond. Count your blessings and stop letting this small sum of money eat up energy and time. Yes, small sum. Are you going to miss a meal? Fair, maybe not, but I would choose letting go of the aggravation.

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Originally Posted by trekker954 (Post 1872978)

I wasn't sure where to post this to get some insight into my recent purchase here in TV. Problem: I purchased a pre-owned home in June 2020 through the Villages Property using their title company. It was an open house so the realtor got his double commission. During this time, everything for me, a cash buyer (the seller owned the house outright which he bought in Feb. 2019) was to be done electronically including the closing documents, because of Covid. My closing costs seemed minimal. I was credited $1441 for 2020 Taxes from the seller. I am not using my homestead as I still have a home in South Florida for a few more months.

Fast forward to receiving my tax bill which was well over $5000. First I called the title company who said the value of my house increased and told me they used the sellers 2019 tax bill for me and he benefited from his sellers homestead for 2019. Lake County told me my seller had never applied for Homestead (he had a home in PA) so of course his taxes went up in January, but the Title company did not go to their website or call the office to make sure they had the correct estimated tax bill for the seller.

So of course the Title Co rep is no longer with the company but after checking they more or less admitted fault because they sent the seller a letter explaining the error in not collecting enough for me and kindly asked them to make a check out to me for $590 and send it to them and they would forward to me. Well, the seller told them to go pound sand that he felt he lost money on the deal as it was (as a snowbird, he lived in the house such a short time in 2019, and pretty much decided to sell it in February (although not listed until June) because of Covid.

The Title Company came back and said I could always get a lawyer and sue him. Yes thats what the Title Company said. I've never been to small claims court, but I'm assuming that is my only option and I have no idea how much that would cost and if I do have a case. I was copied on the letter the Title Company sent to the seller as well as his response. Does the realtor have any responsibility? He is aware as is his manager and they are supposedly still looking into how this happened.

Obviously who gets an attorney for such a small amount, but had the Title company applied the correct amount the seller would just have credited it the correct amount to me. If a suit is to be had, wouldn't I go after the Title Company. I'm just annoyed they were so lazy as not to call or go on the website to get the correct amount for the 2020 taxes. So I end up paying for my sellers taxes all year rather than just six month.

At closing, I believe both the buyer and seller have to sigh a document that essentially states if any mistakes have been made you guarantee you will make good on the difference between what you paid and the actual cost. I am not sure but I would think it is the closing attorney who would be responsible for going after the original seller.

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Originally Posted by jbrown132 (Post 1873210)

See Post No. 29. There was no mistake. The only person responsible here is the seller. They owe money to the buyer to adjust the taxes as they agreed to do at the closing.

Sounds to me like you should have had a realtor to represent your best interest and should have had the sellers agent pay your realtors commission. Then maybe you would not be out your tax money.

Also call me there is a way to transfer your homestead percentage from your south Florida home to your Villages home. Just file one form. Andrea Bonivich, Sellstate Superior Realty
281-513-1250

Doesn't the Title company have insurance for this type of Situation? The Title company admitted they made a mistake. The owner did not pay off the bond as they do not have bonds in Lake County.