Title search problems

[Cathie123]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey
Approximately 3 years ago I purchased a home. The entire closing went smoothly, including the title search which came back clear.
Now, 3 years later, I am prepared to sell this same home. I have a buyer who ran his own title search and lo and behold a clause was now found indicating that the mother of the gentlemen who I purchased this home from still had rights to my home, and was entitled to live there untill the day she dies. (She has been dead for 2 years now).
At the closing, it was agreed by all parties that $2,000 shall be held in an escrow account pending I obtain a copy of this woman's death certificate. This has become a very big problem. The county will not release this certificate to anyone other than an immediate family member or an informant (whatever that is).
What can I do? Do I have any recourse with the title company who ran the search when I originally purchased this home? It is a multi-family residence.
Shouldn't my lawyer who was present at my closing be the one trying to get this taken care of? Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time.

 

[PghREA]

Hopefully you purchased title insurance when you bought the property. The whole idea is to provide a clear title to the property at the time of closing. The original title company failed to do this and that is what the insurance is for. Call them and let them fix this problem for you.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey
Approximately 3 years ago I purchased a home. The entire closing went smoothly, including the title search which came back clear.
Now, 3 years later, I am prepared to sell this same home. I have a buyer who ran his own title search and lo and behold a clause was now found indicating that the mother of the gentlemen who I purchased this home from still had rights to my home, and was entitled to live there untill the day she dies. (She has been dead for 2 years now).
At the closing, it was agreed by all parties that $2,000 shall be held in an escrow account pending I obtain a copy of this woman's death certificate. This has become a very big problem. The county will not release this certificate to anyone other than an immediate family member or an informant (whatever that is).
What can I do? Do I have any recourse with the title company who ran the search when I originally purchased this home? It is a multi-family residence.
Shouldn't my lawyer who was present at my closing be the one trying to get this taken care of? Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time.

**A: it appears that there was a life estate encumbrance on title which needs to be released. You need to be talking with your attorney.

 

[nextwife]

Presuming you DID obtain title INSURANCE, have you contacted the ORIGINAL issuing title company,?

Likely, if they issued a policy insuring clear title:

A. They, as part of the title clearance process that occured pre-closing, were provided some form of document that allowed them to clear that issue. Perhaps, in their file, their exists a wiaver of the life esatate interest, or some other documentation that they were comfortable using to offer affirmative coverage over the life estate.

or

B. They messed up and missed the life estate altogether. If so, they can likely indemnify the other title company, or themselves offer coverage over this issue in a new policy, allowing the escrow to be skipped, and closing to occur - as they will assume liabilty. I've seen this done many times when one title company picks up some old matter that the other one did not exclude from coverage.

 

[Cathie123]

Thank you for your replies. I will be contacting my lawyer from when I was purchasing the home in order to try and rectify this matter. Thank you again.