Chicago family pays thousands to keep home mistakenly built on wrong lot

They need to sue the county.

The title company, the county assessor , the closing attorney and any parties involved should take responsibility . The government has no mercy.

insane, they can't get a refund because of statute of limitations but they can certainly be held accountable for money not paid in that same timeframe.

I live in Virginia and had a similar experience. We had a house built by a developer on a lot he owned. 12 years later we learned that he had never transferred the title to the lot to us. So, like this couple, we owned the house but not the property. Our lawyer and the title company were no help, but our bank became engaged when we threatened to default on the mortgage. The developer realized his mistake and transferred the title within 24 hours so our story had a happier ending.

And we thought my dad was doing too much when he wanted a land survey, photos and aerial maps before our house was built when I was a kid. I guess he knew something we didn’t.

The family being forced to pay for the county/city's mistake since 2005 is INSANE!

A major question that wasn't answered in this story is What about notice? You can't sell a person's home for delinquent taxes without clearly notifying the homeowner first. If they weren't properly notified, they have a valid claim against the county. And the Statute of Limitations shouldn't start to run until the homeowners became aware of the problem. I hope this couple gets justice!

This is absurd. I hope an excellent attorney steps up and gets them justice. How could so many people collect a pay check and do so much harm. God bless.

It CERTAINLY is unfortunate that the city can’t/won’t do ANYTHING to make this family whole !

Its past the statute of limitations yet they had to pay 43000?? This is another example how the working class gets screwed on the daily

Only 65k to own both lots? They got lucky that the new owner was willing to cooperate.

A lot of people ask me why I trust no one. This is the reason.

They need a better lawyer. Another lawyer would be able to figure out how and who to sue, because there definitely is a way!

I would love to know why the attorneys didn't file suit against the title company. Title insurance should have taken care of this.

This is so unjust and so unfair

Something similar happened to me. A year after I bought my house, I got a letter from my mortgage company claiming I owed 13k in back taxes. As it turns out, the taxes had previously been sold -- but never PAID. The title insurance company honored my claim, and paid the back taxes, and vowed to go after "them", whom allowed a sale without the back taxes being paid (you cannot sell a house if there are back taxes). The county had my house on the auction block for 'back taxes', and I didn't even know it. My house sits equally on two lots, but it isn't being pro-rated as it should, and I'm paying taxes on literally two houses. And my house was built, IRONICALLY around the same time as theirs The Cook County assessors office are nothing but crooks, and most of these builders went 'out of business' after they built theses houses, and most were engaging in shady business practices, and if you ask me, in conspiracy with the county. They don't call it 'Crook County' for nothing.

Sue the local building department, those inspectors , plan review, water and sewage as well.they should have known before any footings were laid!!

That private equity firm is the definition of evil. The local government is the definition of incompetent. And this hardworking family ended up paying dearly.

What a giant mistake. The builder should be individually responsible for this

Actually the home would be nicer if it was on the other lot it wouldn't be real close to that bigger building. The city's building inspector should have caught the mistake when it was being built to get the building permit. You have to do a survey before construction how everything went through and it was built on the wrong lot with no one noticing is unbelievable !