Posted by Maurice Fenske on 12/19/05

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Maurice & Christine Fenske
1546 Covey Drive
River Falls, WI 54022
715-425-8934

Four Seasons Title , of 206 2nd Street in Hudson, WI.
closed the mortgage deal for our new home on 9-7-05 at
their Hudson, WI. Office. They also have an office in
Roseville, MN.

At the time, we believed that this professional title
service being paid for by us was going to make certain all
of our home closing documents were in order.

On 12-16-05 I received a 2005 tax bill from the City Of
River Falls, WI...where our home is located. The tax bill
was $5,096.98 for the tax year 2005.

I reviewed my paperwork from the closing, expecting that
there would have been a contribution to our escrow account
at closing in reference to the seller's owed taxes for the
time from January 1st, 2005 to the date of closing per our
purchase contract.

The title Company did not do the required paperwork to
find out the actual 2005 assessed value from the assessor
or they would have known the home assessed at $218,000 and
then they could have taken and prorated the taxes the
seller owed up to the date of closing and I would not be
stuck with a $5100 tax bill for a property I only owned
for 116 days in 2005.

The home is a new construction home that was finished in
December of 2004, per the City of River Falls Inspector.
The home reassessment for taxes was completed and closed
for 2005 on 5-13-05.

Had this title Company called the Assessor they could have
found out the assessed value and with that, contacted the
treasurer and got the mill levy information needed to
estimate very closely what the 2005 property taxes would
come to be. Then the title company could have done their
job and collected the proper monies from the seller at
closing and I would not be the one holding the bag now. At
the very least, the Title Company should have estimated
high because they knew from the appraisal and purchase
contract that this home was being bought by us for
$265,000.

I have talked this over with the title company and they
refuse to accept fault , even though our purchase
agreement clearly states that the current years tax
information will be used if available (which it surely was
if they called the right people).

Instead the title company took the easy route, looked up
our tax value online the Pierce County's website , found
the valuation for 2004 (when the property was a vacant
lot) and they did the pro-rations off of that $642 tax
amount for 2004 on the vacant lot. They only collected
$442 from the Seller at Closing for 2005 Taxes.

They Screwed up royally and have apologized, even though
they said they should have caught the mistake……….they
refuse to make it right !!!!

I should be given actual monies equal to the excess taxes
I am being held accountable for their mistake. I have been
in this home just over a hundred days in 2005 , therefore
I should only be responsible for about $1500 of the $5100
2005 tax bill. They should be responsible for the
remainder and be up to them to collect any money from the
seller if they so chose. I have talked to the seller and
he has said the same thing.........They screwed up and the
Seller is not offering to pay his portion now!!!!

Re: Who's at Fault??, 2/08/06, by Don.

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