HELP!! Issue with SURVEY during refinance of rental property!?!?
BP Nation,
Really could use your help to solve this problem. So I received a loan approval to obtain a cash our refi on one of my rental properties. When I bought the property I did not perform a survey since I bought the property cash (I know my mistake). There is an issue with the adjacent lot of land (4 feet in width) which was supposed to be conveyed to the house next door. Apparently the last three times the deed had changed hands this was never recorded. My property has a fence which is on the 4 foot piece of land and the tenant's have a dog they let loose in the backyard.
The lot of land belongs to someone that owned the land in 1990, I believe the original owner/county appraiser forgot to convey the strip of land to the neighbor next door. So the title company tried to send a letter to the original owner of the small piece of land to no avail. They asked if I knew the owner which I do not since I purchased the property in 2012. The attorney at the title company said if they cannot find the owner of record to sign a quit claim deed, he said the next option would be to file an adverse possession suit and quiet title action.
Apparently an adverse possession suit is, at its core, a lawsuit. The timeline depends on court docket, responsiveness of adverse parties and the usual vagaries of litigation scheduling. I am hearing best case scenario would be 3-6 months, but could certainly run out longer than that. Does anyone have any advice for this particular situation? Should I just move my fence back off the 4 foot piece of land. Please advise!!! Time is of the essence. I was planning to use these funds to complete a rehab of another property I purchase two months ago.
Thanks in advance!