Selling Your Home Doesn’t Mean You’re Free Of Any Liability For It!

Selling your home doesn’t mean you’re free of any liability for it. Most, if not all, buyers of residential property obtain a title insurance policy in case something wrong with the property is discovered after the closing while the buyers are living there. But what about the sellers? Most sellers do not obtain a title insurance policy and there is significant case law in Florida that holds sellers liable for defects in the title under certain circumstances, even years after the sale.

For example, a client of Ferrer Law Group sold his home and at the closing he executed all the documentation required by the closing agent. Two years later the client receives a credit card from his Bank, (who was the same bank that issued the mortgage on the house he sold two years before), and upon the client’s inquiry the Bank tells the client it’s just a credit card. Unknown to the client, the closing agent never submitted the executed documentation to the Bank and the Bank never closed out the equity line mortgage on the house the client sold. The client used the credit card and made all the payments on time and in full, however, the Bank still put a lien on the house the client no longer owned and then filed a lawsuit against the client for defaulting on the mortgage! Yes the client did nothing wrong but he was still embroiled in a lawsuit over a home he did not live in, did not own and cost him thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees.

So remember, selling your home doesn’t mean you’re free of any liability for it. A seller spending a few hundred dollars on a title insurance policy is really worth the peace of mind and protection it can offer from potential future liability. Contact Ferrer Law Group, if you need assistance with this type of legal issue.