I have a court order stating that My brother and I get the first right to buy a house that my step-mother sold. The court order also stated that we get a percentage of the sale if we did not buy it. Who is responsible the title company for letting the sale go through or my step-mother? We have not had any contact with my step-mother and the house closed over a mouth ago.

Unless the court order was registered with the county, then the title company would not know of it. If it was registered then they are responsible since clear title could not be conveyed by your step-mom.

If it wasn't registered then your step-mom is responsible for ignoring the terms of a court order.

The court order has been filed int the county (stueben) In since 1996. I have the papers signed by the judge and stamped saying files.

The court order had to be filed as either a judgment against your step-mother or as a restriction specifically against that property. If it was filed in either of those two ways then you can file a lis pendens and start a lawsuit against your step-mother and the current owner of the property.

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Originally Posted by tboyles1

The court order has been filed int the county (stueben) In since 1996. I have the papers signed by the judge and stamped saying files.

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That may not be enough. The fact that the judge marked the order as filed, doesn't mean it actually was. You need to check with the Steuben county clerk to confirm that the order was recorded against the property. The title company is responsible for due diligence in searching public records. Unless it can be shown that their standard procedures should have uncovered the order, they may not be responsible.

Since closing occurred over a month ago, I don't see where filing a lis pendens is now applicable. That would be used to prevent the closing.

The question now is what do you want? Do you want to overturn the sale so you can buy the property? Or do you just want the percentage you were entitled to? Your next action depends on the answer to that.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Since closing occurred over a month ago, I don't see where filing a lis pendens is now applicable. That would be used to prevent the closing.

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Filing a lis pendens will prevent the current owners from taking any further action with the property. If there were no lis pendens filed and the current owners sold the property, the new buyers would have the defense of not having notice of previous claims against the property. That would prevent any possibility of the prior transaction being overturned.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

That may not be enough. The fact that the judge marked the order as filed, doesn't mean it actually was. You need to check with the Steuben county clerk to confirm that the order was recorded against the property. The title company is responsible for due diligence in searching public records. Unless it can be shown that their standard procedures should have uncovered the order, they may not be responsible.

Since closing occurred over a month ago, I don't see where filing a lis pendens is now applicable. That would be used to prevent the closing.

The question now is what do you want? Do you want to overturn the sale so you can buy the property? Or do you just want the percentage you were entitled to? Your next action depends on the answer to that.

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The ordered was filed in Steuben county. The land was sold to my step-mom's sister for approx $40,000 under market value. Right now we are not sure if we want to take the land out od spite or just get the money. That is something we have to decide. The title company has been contacted and say they are "on it" but will not give us what the process is or what claim they have filed for us.

Whose title company?

Seeing how it was sold to a relative and under market value, you would have an easier time overturning it then if it were sold to a stranger.