Re: Who's at Fault??

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If your purchase agreement says the seller is supposed to
pay a portion of the taxes, go after seller. Why didn't you
have an attorney with you at closing?

On 12/19/05, Maurice Fenske wrote:
> 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!!!!