Title Company merged 4 Parcels into one

A

AndreaF

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
5 members of our family inherited a defunct corporation, and it had to be reinstated in order to liquidate the assets, which were basically 4 connecting parcels of real estate owned by the corporation. After the parcels were free of the corp,, we hired a real estate firm which found a buyer. When we closed on the property, we signed numerous papers, two of which listed the four parcels by parcel number.
5 years later, we are all being sued by the new owner (through an attorney) because he decided to sell the parcels separately to take advantage of the building boom in the area. He found that the parcels were no longer separate, but merged into one, without the knowledge of him or any of us sellers. Since we as previous owners could not have done that, we can only assume the title agency took it upon themselves to merge 4 parcels into one, after we closed on the property. What can we do in this situation?
 
Here in Ohio there are a variety of reasons for consolidation of parcels. I can't answer any of that from here, as it would just be a guess.

I recommend that your next step would be to visit your county auditor's website:

Transfer & Conveyances | Greene County, OH - Official Website

It might provide some insight and history of what might have happened. In any case, you are being sued, and you will need an attorney. You are not in a do-it-yourself project using internet "help".

Good Luck!
 
AndreaF said:
What can we do in this situation?
Click to expand...

It is time to hire an excellent real estate law firm.

You're wasting your time, burning daylight by seeking FREE advice.

Protect yourselves, LAWYER UP!!!!


lawyer_up.jpg
 
AndreaF said:
without the knowledge of him or any of us sellers.
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Really. Are you all going to stand up in court and admit you are idiots?

Assuming for the moment that there were originally four deeds for the properties, didn't anybody (buyer or sellers) notice that there was only one deed being executed during, or at close of, escrow?

Duh!

Yeah, lawyer up.
 
The title company doesn't have the power to merge parcels. The local jurisdictions and counties do. And they don't have to ask for anyone's permission before doing so.

When contiguous parcels of land change owners to a common owner, a local jurisdiction or county may merge the parcels to conform to the then current zoning for permitted uses (if the parcels individually are undersized).

Check your jurisdiction's zoning ordinances.
 
AndreaF said:
... we can only assume ...
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Don't assume. Find out.
In my state, it's possible to tie two lots together so that, while they may be separate lots, they are locked together as if they were one.
 
AndreaF said:
5 members of our family inherited a defunct corporation, and it had to be reinstated in order to liquidate the assets, which were basically 4 connecting parcels of real estate owned by the corporation. After the parcels were free of the corp,, we hired a real estate firm which found a buyer.
Click to expand...

I'm confused about "after the parcels were free of the corp." Are you saying that y'all reinstated the corporation and then transferred the real property to someone else (you and the other four members of your family) and then sold it it? If that's correct, why did you do that?

AndreaF said:
Since we as previous owners could not have done that, we can only assume the title agency took it upon themselves to merge 4 parcels into one, after we closed on the property.
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You say that you, "as previous owners could not have done that." However, you assume that "the title agency" (whatever exactly that means) did have the ability to do what you lacked the ability to do? Why do you assume that? For that matter, why do you assume the allegation is true? Some (but not all) real estate transactions involve the issuance of a policy of title insurance, and that policy is issued by a title insurer. And sometimes, a title insurer will act as the escrow company for the transaction. However, in neither case would the title insurer take any action to merge or split parcels in a multi-parcel transaction (unless expressly requested to do so by the parties to the transaction). Not only would it be extremely rare for the parties to request something like that, it would be virtually unheard of for a title insurer to be involved in something like that.

AndreaF said:
What can we do in this situation?
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I'm certain that you can do lots of things. Since you've been sued, the smart thing to do would be to retain the services of an attorney. Since your recitation of the facts is based on an assumption that isn't likely true, the first step will be to ascertain exactly what happened.
 
adjusterjack said:
Really. Are you all going to stand up in court and admit you are idiots?

Assuming for the moment that there were originally four deeds for the properties, didn't anybody (buyer or sellers) notice that there was only one deed being executed during, or at close of, escrow?

Duh!

Yeah, lawyer up.
Click to expand...

Don't be rude, none of us are idiots.
The sellers (us) were required to pay for a survey of the 4 parcels, which were sold as a single property with one address. Either the Title agency or the Real Estate company retained a survey company for the survey to be done, but there was a delay of over 2 months before the survey was completed due to the housing boom. This was explained to the buyer, but he was in a hurry to close before the end of the 2018 tax year, so acknowledged the survey delay and we closed in December of 2018, before the county auditor/engineer/city of Beavercreek could read and decide what to do with the 4 parcels included in the property. The buyer was told he had to do a quit claim to transfer the 4 parcels to one, (transferred from his company to his company) but I don't know why. He did do the quit claim.
 
AndreaF said:
The sellers (us) were required to pay for a survey....
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I find it curious that you came back to this thread after nearly three weeks and focused on only one of eight responses you received. Your follow up is full of passive voice sentences, so it's not clear who did what.

Most importantly, when is your response due to the lawsuit, and, in the 19 days since you first posted, have you retained the services of an attorney?
 
Yes, you have had plenty of time to get an attorney and get actual further advice.

My take at this point is that you do not need to wait for the best real estate attorney you can find in Ohio ( I know several but you don't need them).

Any experienced attorney in Xenia or Dayton should be should be able to get this dismissed before it ever gets to trial, if all is as you have said.

"The buyer was told he had to do a quit claim to transfer the 4 parcels to one, (transferred from his company to his company) but I don't know why. He did do the quit claim."

And there you have it.
 
OldSurveyor said:
Yes, you have had plenty of time to get an attorney and get actual further advice.

My take at this point is that you do not need to wait for the best real estate attorney you can find in Ohio ( I know several but you don't need them).

Any experienced attorney in Xenia or Dayton should be should be able to get this dismissed before it ever gets to trial, if all is as you have said.

"The buyer was told he had to do a quit claim to transfer the 4 parcels to one, (transferred from his company to his company) but I don't know why. He did do the quit claim."

And there you have it.
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Hi Old Surveyor: Yes, of course we have retained an attorney (in Beavercreek), and he is not sure which way to go with this: "As of now, I see at least two avenues to pursue on that. First, we argue that a "mutual mistake" occurred, meaning that both (the sellers) and (the buyer) did not know that the property could not be conveyed as four parcels. Similarly, we could argue that it was/is impossible for you to perform the contract because the City/County were always going to require these to be one parcel instead of four. If either of these are true, then we could technically argue that the contract is void. You would then be required to give (the buyer) his money back in exchange for the property. Of course, a lot of this will depend on what the City has to say."
As a former surveyor/attorney, what do you think about this reasoning?
 
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zddoodah said:
I find it curious that you came back to this thread after nearly three weeks and focused on only one of eight responses you received. Your follow up is full of passive voice sentences, so it's not clear who did what.

Most importantly, when is your response due to the lawsuit, and, in the 19 days since you first posted, have you retained the services of an attorney?
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I have not responded to all replies, as most say some version of "Lawyer Up", which is not helpful at all. Yes, of course we have retained an attorney and will respond within the required time. We're discussing how we can resolve this issue. Greene County is big on "resolutions" and that makes me a bit leery on coming out on top.
 
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AndreaF said:
As a former surveyor/attorney, what do you think about this reasoning?
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Well, first of all, I have never been an attorney and have never represented myself as such.

Moving on from there I am an actual retired licensed Ohio land surveyor.

I had thought that, if applicable, the Doctrine of Merger (alive and well in Ohio) might apply.

Merger doctrine (property law) - Wikipedia

But as it is so well known to attorneys, yours is in the best position to make any decision about applying the concept in your situation.

No one here can see the chain of title, the details of the lawsuit, or anything further.
As you are now represented by an attorney, who has access to all of the information we do not have here, we are now done here.
OldSurveyor out.
 
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AndreaF said:
Not a helpful reply...
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