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Nightmare in Indiana
- Thread starter tascott
- Start date
Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills Please click a topic or scroll down for more.
R
rhinchee
Guest
You may be able to negotiate something with your lender. I am working on a commercial property that had a $3 million dollar loan, contamination was found and the owner went back to the lender and was able to negotiate the loan down to $700 thousand. The lender was willing to eat the $2.3 million rather than have to take the contaminated property. I have no idea how this was done legally or contractually; or if it could be done with a residential property, but it may be worth a try.
Good Luck
Good Luck
I gave my attorney the video tapes of the tanks being pulled out and cut open with a chain saw. It also shows one of the tanks with the old gas pouring out everywhere from a hole that was punctured when it was being removed. The Credit Union is trying to say they find no proof of the tanks on my property so THANK GOD I got it all on tape. I'll show them "PROOF"... ha
Okay, quick update..... The title company finally called to discuss the results of the recent groundwater tests they did. They told me that the contamination level has gone down a great deal. Then, they asked me if I wanted to keep the house and live there again. They told me I needed to contact the credit union and try to get them to decrease the payoff of the home to what I actually owed when I stopped paying for it because of the tanks. I owed a little over 20,000 at that time. The credit Union has said now that the total is 40,000 + due to interest, late charges, etc. Then they said that they would pay for the cleanup of the property so, I could live there again and that was going to cost them 20-25,000 to cleanup... (totally impossible when it didn't even cost that much to remove the 3 tanks and my home sits on less that 1 lot. I think they're going to try to rip me. What do you think?
tascott said:Okay, quick update..... The title company finally called to discuss the results of the recent groundwater tests they did. They told me that the contamination level has gone down a great deal. Then, they asked me if I wanted to keep the house and live there again. They told me I needed to contact the credit union and try to get them to decrease the payoff of the home to what I actually owed when I stopped paying for it because of the tanks. I owed a little over 20,000 at that time. The credit Union has said now that the total is 40,000 + due to interest, late charges, etc. Then they said that they would pay for the cleanup of the property so, I could live there again and that was going to cost them 20-25,000 to cleanup... (totally impossible when it didn't even cost that much to remove the 3 tanks and my home sits on less that 1 lot. I think they're going to try to rip me. What do you think?
**A: if they are ready to deal. have your attorney negotiate.
I called my attorney as soon as I talked to the title company, but he was out of the office..... I will talk with him tomorrow and see what he says... The funny thing is that the title company says they're going to pay the 20 to 25,000 for the clean up but the owner of the old gas station signed all the state IDEM paperwork that says he is responsible for all cleanup and loss for any release on his property as well as the surrounding properties when he bought the building in 1993 .... Why would the title company pay for the cleanup when the owner of the gas station signed all this in 1993?
Yes the title company really goofed..... If they would have looked back to the previous title it described my property and also stated, "Subject to right of vendor the rights to come upon the property to service, fill, remove or operate tanks on the property. They did not put that information on my title, they just put the description. The tanks were leaking and ordered to be removed in 1994.... I bought the property in 1995 with no idea their were tanks in my front yard. Even the land survey, inspection, and appraisal reports state that there are no hazardous material on or around my property, and no reason to believe that there were any prior gas stations in the area.......
R
rhinchee
Guest
You do have a complicated case, too complicated to solve on this bulletin board. I have a few comments for you:
1 Depending on how much contamination you have and where it is 20 to 25k may not be an unreasonable price to pay for clean up. That is less than most sites with groundwater contamination cost to clean up. This is quite site specific, I have seen over $1,000,000 spent on cleaning up a specific gas station; I have also seen it cost less than 10k.
2 If this is some how the title company's fault you should try and get them to both clean it up and indemnify you from future clean up costs or claims resulting from the contamination. No clean up is complete and problems do arise. You really need an attorney's help and advice on this one.
3 It sounds like whoever did your tank pull may not have done it legally. Cutting into an underground storage tank with gasoline in it with a chain saw is quite dangerous and I believe illegal in most states. Standard practice is to pump out all liquids before the tank is touched. If you paid a tank puller or if the tank pull was done before you purchased the property you maybe able to go after the tank puller for some of the cost of clean up.
4 In an earlier post I mentioned the state underground tank fund which could pay for this. It is sounding more like you may qualify for that. Have you looked into this?
As I have said before I am not an attorney, and I know nothing of your state’s specific laws or regulations. I am just giving you some information from my experiences with similar problems elsewhere.
Good Luck!
1 Depending on how much contamination you have and where it is 20 to 25k may not be an unreasonable price to pay for clean up. That is less than most sites with groundwater contamination cost to clean up. This is quite site specific, I have seen over $1,000,000 spent on cleaning up a specific gas station; I have also seen it cost less than 10k.
2 If this is some how the title company's fault you should try and get them to both clean it up and indemnify you from future clean up costs or claims resulting from the contamination. No clean up is complete and problems do arise. You really need an attorney's help and advice on this one.
3 It sounds like whoever did your tank pull may not have done it legally. Cutting into an underground storage tank with gasoline in it with a chain saw is quite dangerous and I believe illegal in most states. Standard practice is to pump out all liquids before the tank is touched. If you paid a tank puller or if the tank pull was done before you purchased the property you maybe able to go after the tank puller for some of the cost of clean up.
4 In an earlier post I mentioned the state underground tank fund which could pay for this. It is sounding more like you may qualify for that. Have you looked into this?
As I have said before I am not an attorney, and I know nothing of your state’s specific laws or regulations. I am just giving you some information from my experiences with similar problems elsewhere.
Good Luck!
tascott said:I'm not sure what all was discussed. I just know that my lawyer gave the attorney in charge of the forclosure some of the facts about my property and everything was stopped. Can you explain a little about the deed in lieu of forclosure, or what that would do? I will be sure and ask him.
They refused to take the property until June of 2005. Me, my 10 year old son and my 7 year old daughter were given a 72 hour notice to move out and . I know that the Credit Union's attorney stopped the forclosure after they were aware of the situtation, but everything I put into this home has been destroyed and vandalized more than twice since the original forclosure was stopped. I put to much money into this home for my children and I to let vandals, and no winterization to the new pipes I installed. Home Guru, tell me another option. You have been great, but every one of them tell me it's complicated. I'm about to rent it out just to make sure that all the new things I put in to our home will not go bad while the credit union and etc wait until the ground level is acceptiable by the state... Stopping this point at this time.... I guess I need to know how the Credit union can refuse to take the property back per my repuest in late 2000, try to forclosure after a 2 year struggle which the credit Unions attorney stopped, and then out of the blue, forclosed and gave me and my kids 72hrs to get out in 2005. (My attorney said I had 72 hours to get out)..... I drive by my old property daily thinking of how the furnace and roof and new improvements I did to our house would benefit us now when my kids can no longer enjoy a bath due to the money I spent to restore damagages over the 2nd forclosure out of the blue..... Do I have a chance to represent myself? or Which court do I need to file with to get the facts out..... Channel 6? 8?,,new??? I'm just desperate to end this nightmare that refuses to end.....
Interesting (but sad) thread . . .
Interesting (but sad) thread . . .
So, in June of 2005, the credit union foreclosed and gave you 72 hours to move out? And did you move out at that time? But now you want to rent it out? (I'm confussed - they did, or did not foreclose?)
Did you make your mortgage payments from 2000 until now? It sounds like you didn't, which means you've been able to save up a sizable nest egg (possibly as much as you've put into it?).
Did you continue paying property taxes the whole time?
What did you find out from the title company?
Is your attorney still on the job? What does he say?
Interesting (but sad) thread . . .
So, in June of 2005, the credit union foreclosed and gave you 72 hours to move out? And did you move out at that time? But now you want to rent it out? (I'm confussed - they did, or did not foreclose?)
Did you make your mortgage payments from 2000 until now? It sounds like you didn't, which means you've been able to save up a sizable nest egg (possibly as much as you've put into it?).
Did you continue paying property taxes the whole time?
What did you find out from the title company?
Is your attorney still on the job? What does he say?