I have an unique situation. I bought a house with a grant from the County I live in. Due to numerous problems that I believe are related to the construction house was built (they has house built) they are offering to purchase house back for the exact amount I owe the bank. They requested an updated abstract of title and updated survey. I do not have a lawyer because this was suppose to be a painless transaction and money is a concern for me. So my question is can I obtain these with, is it absolutely necessary that I get a lawyer. I live in NYS, Onondaga County. As I said money is a big concern for me. TY for any info.

Go to the county clerk. You may have to pay a small fee, but you should be able to get it from them. Frankly, if the County had the house built and it turned out to be shoddy, I would not settle for the blanace on your mortgage. I would ask for the interest you paid, moving costs etc. If they are making this offer, they know they were at fault and know they will lose in court.

TY for that info, but from what I know Onondago county does not have the abstract. Even so I have to get it updated. I would love to get more for the house. Believe me this took me months and months and only after writing to HUD in Washington and a couple Senators. The house is almost 11 yrs old. It is mainky a water problem. There is no where for water to run off to except down the road into my yard and basement. Took me a long time to figure out all the problems. French drain not deep enough, sump pump put out pipe stops in middle of backyard. The moisture caused a lot of damage. But they insist everything met code. So seeing how I have lived there 9.5 yrds I guess I am lucky.

Well that's different info. But I don't see how the county doesn't have the abstract on record.

Just to be sure I called the County Clerk, as I thought no they do not have it because they are not filed. The bank has one, but I still need to get it updated that is I guess the question? Sorry if I was too vague but this is all new to me.

The bank should also have one, but the county should have a copy of all deeds. If they don't, they should be able to tell you where to get one.

You can call a title insurance company to get an updated abstract. You should have purchased a title insurance policy when you purchased the house. If so, take out your policy and call the title agency that issued it. They can update it and also obtain an updated survey for you. But there are going to be charges for this. The county should be paying those charges, not you.

If the county is buying it back, they would hire an attorney to update the abstact. You hire an abstract or title or real estate attorney ( different states use different systems) and they do an update.

So basically the attorney who did the last update when you bought it, merely updates it showing your bought it and files it with the county.

Next the county court house has a complete record of who owned the land dating back normally till when it was deeded by the government at the beginning of the county or state into statehood and some go back further.

A abstract is nothing more than a summary that an attorney does and the attorney offers a legal opinion that there is no outstanding issues on the property. So if you don't use the same legal firm, they will have to do the complete research again anyway.