See you in Court

[jimnjana]

I'm a vengeful prick, so I'd probably spend ten times what it was worth to sue the guy just to see him waste hundreds or thousands of dollars on attorney fees to defend himself.

Even if he offered to settle beforehand, I'd tell him to shove it and sue him anyway just on principle. It might cost me $10k instead of $1k (or whatever the amounts are) but I'd have an evil grin on my face knowing it cost him that much, too.

Kinda what I'm thinking at this point. I doubt he will offer to settle, but I'm hopeful that he will. I pity his lawyer because this guy is thick. I can almost hear someone trying to talk sense into him and giving up...like I did. DW is on the side of not being too vengeful. I just think he should be held financially accountable for the extra costs we have incurred from the time( a month or so after) he was first notified of the issue.

 

[jimnjana]

Update: So after ignoring the original complaint, he was served again. This time he must have talked to a lawyer who talked some sense into him. Now he has the title and his lawyer offered to overnight it to our lawyer. We accepted that offer, now we will decide whether or not to go after damages.Had he responded on week earlier, we would not have lost a sale of the property. (buyers had extended original agreement 60 days and had had enough). So now we are waiting for our lawyer to confirm receipt of the title and verify whether or not it is original title or duplicate title before deciding to proceed to go after damages.

 

[pb4uski]

Might your buyers who backed out still be interested if clear title is available?

 

[Slow But Steady]

If your first lawyer is still footing the bill, I think I'd be tempted to go after damages including the lost sale.

I'd also be looking for the opportunity to quote back one of the first lines you heard from the guy: "See you in court!"

 

[jimnjana]

Might your buyers who backed out still be interested if clear title is available?

no, they have made an offer on another place.

 

[jimnjana]

If your first lawyer is still footing the bill, I think I'd be tempted to go after damages including the lost sale.

I'd also be looking for the opportunity to quote back one of the first lines you heard from the guy: "See you in court!"

I guess we will look at the title he provides us. If it is an original title, then we will know he had it all along. If it is a duplicate title then we will know he was not aware of the issue until about the same time we were. If he had the title all along then I will likely go for damages. Not sure if we will if it is a duplicate.

 

[jimnjana]

Final Update.

We closed on the sale of the property last week. We ended up losing three sales due to the previous owner not providing us proper title. These delays ended up making us more money. We did do owner financing, but we always expected to due to the nature of the property. Also, I think we found the buyer that our place was meant for. A couple, the wife has terminal cancer and wanted to spend her final days on the lake. We decided not to pursue any other legal action against the previous owner.

 

[rodi]

Sounds like a good resolution, jimnjana

 

[pb4uski]

I guess we will look at the title he provides us. If it is an original title, then we will know he had it all along. If it is a duplicate title then we will know he was not aware of the issue until about the same time we were. If he had the title all along then I will likely go for damages. Not sure if we will if it is a duplicate.

Did you find out whether or not he had the original title?

 

[jimnjana]

Did you find out whether or not he had the original title?

We found out that he never received it. (his mortgage company screw up)

 

[eytonxav]

Glad you had a positive outcome. Its no fun spending retirement (or pre-retirement) fighting legal battles.