Consumption and Real Estate
does title insurance cover incorrect property bounderies?
Question : does title insurance cover incorrect property bounderies?
i bought my house 15 months ago, i just realized that the neighbors fencing is totally wrong. does title insurance in massachusetts cover this. I do know that this land has never been surveyed by the local surveyer. And to top it off, it is bluntly noticable that the fencing is all wrong. what to do. My house is on the market. Can i get in trouble for not disclosing this info to the next buyer?
massachusetts property insurance
Best answer:
Answer by Jo
Talk to your real estate agent. They would be able to head you in the right direction.
If there were no problem with the sale of the house when YOU bought it, there probably will be no problem with the sale of the house to someone else. I would not worry about it.
However, if you want to worry, a survey was done. All you have to do is find it. Look in all the documents they gave you when you bought the house. Look in all the documents from the title insurance company. Go down to the county tax assessors office and recorders office. Somewhere there is a survey of the property.
Once you have the survey, you can hire a surveyor to find out exactly where the property line is. (If you can not find the survey and he has to start from scratch, it will cost you a LOT of money.) You may be totally wrong and the fence is either on the other guys land or right on the property line. If that is the case, you can stop worrying.
If the fence is on your side, the fastest easiest way to fix the problem is this…. You give him a quick claim deed to all of your land between the fence and the actual property line. In other words, he was occupying your land and you don’t care. You just formally give it to him. Then you file a copy of that quick claim deed with the proper county office. It is now public record and the fence is EXACTLY on the property line. No more worries as you can sell the house without any issues regarding the property line.
If on the other hand you want to claim your land, you can take a certified copy of the survey to the neighbor and see if you can work things out with him nicely. He may even split the cost of a new fence with you. If not, you tell him you are going to move the fence to the property line and you will pay for it entirely. If he wants to fight, the only way is to sue. (Good luck selling the house if he sues over it.)
I would try being nice first.