Riverside Residential Real Estate Lawyers Representing Clients in Title Disputes

When you are buying or selling residential real property, it is critical to work with an experienced attorney who can represent you in any title dispute that may arise. Part of any residential real estate attorney’s job is to order and review a title report prior to closing, and to make certain determinations about title insurance in the event a title dispute arises during the process of purchasing or selling residential property. WZC can represent you in any title dispute that arises.

Many different real property title problems can arise when you are in the process of selling or purchasing residential real estate. The following are among the most common types of title issues that you are likely to encounter:

• Chain of title problem (this can occur when there is a lien on the property, or anytime another party claims that they actually were transferred title to the property and that the present seller does not have the authority to sell the property—this issue is typically resolved once a residential real estate attorney conducts a title search);
• Liens (which means that a previous owner of the property owed a debt, and an entity placed a lien on the property in order recoup the money owed, such as a creditor or the federal government for an unpaid tax debt);
• Boundary disputes (a property boundary line dispute might exist between the existing owner and a neighbor, and you may need to deal with adverse possession);
• Existing easements (while an easement might not create a problem in terms of buying or selling a property, it might mean that the property does not have the same value once the easement became known);
• Encumbrances (you might make an offer on a residential property only to learn that the named sellers are not the only owners, and in fact a third party or entity has a partial or full claim to the residential real estate as a result of another mortgage or lien);
• Unlawful deed (at some point in the past, a previous deed might have been made by a party who was not lawfully able to make a deed, such as a legally incompetent person or a minor);
• Public record error (a filing mistake, for example, might mean that the deed or the survey of the property is not lawful as is); and/or
• Fraud (fraud can take many forms, from a deed forgery to an identity theft situation in which the seller is not the actual owner of the property).

Some of these issues can be resolved with additional time and money, while others may result in the sale of the residential property falling through. Title insurance is designed to protect both residential property buyers and mortgage lenders in the event that there is a defect or problem with a title when there is a transfer of property ownership.

Nobody who is planning to purchase or sell residential real estate wants to contend with a title dispute. However, there are a wide variety of reasons that title disputes can arise, and it will be critical to have an experienced Riverside residential real estate attorney on your side throughout this process to represent you in the title dispute. Depending upon the specific facts or elements of the title dispute, it may be possible to resolve the dispute through negotiations or by other means. In some situations, however, the buyer may choose to walk away from the deal if a resolution to the title dispute looks to be particularly complicated or costly.

One of the experienced Riverside title dispute lawyers at our firm can speak with you today about your situation, and we can begin working on your residential real estate transaction.

At WZC, our California residential real estate lawyers are skilled, solutions-driven advocates for clients. If you have any questions about your rights or your options, we are more than ready to help. For a completely confidential initial consultation, please contact us today. With an office in Riverside, we serve communities throughout Southern California, including in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, and Los Angeles County.