Auction purchase gone wrong

[Mark Flanders]

Hi BP friends, I really am in need of some advice regarding the situation I've found myself in with Bank of America. I bought a home at auction (via www.auction.com) that was advertised as a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home and the advertisement said that I was not allowed to contact the occupants or tour the home prior to the bid and so I proceeded to bid on the home (which is located in NC) Public records in Mecklenburg county showed the property to be a 3 bed 2 bath home and the title report I paid for also described the property that way. However once I closed on the home, paid my balance and received the deed, which all took place 30 days after the executed purchase agreement, I toured the home finally and turns out it is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home. When I called the auctioneer back, they stated that they can't help me because that's "part of the risk of buying at auction" and that I would need to contact the seller (BofA) and they wouldn't provide me their contact information.

The home was last sold in 2004 on the MLS by the previous owner to the owner that was foreclosed on as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home, and then it shows that the home was appraised and refinanced as a 3 bed / 2 bath home is 2013. Then foreclosed on by BofA in December 2015.

When we arrived to look at the home the front door was unlocked and the occupants had left. However there was a lock-box on the door which hinted that BofA had stopped by to lock up the property which means they could have verified what they were selling. Do you think I have any recourse here or is this part of the risk that I just have to swallow which I think is unbelievable! Thank you for reading this. Have you ever heard of something like this happening? I understand that if I had walked in the door and there was lead based paint splashed everywhere or if there was a sink hole under the house that I would have to deal with that, but for the property to not be anywhere close to how it was advertised and how it was valued by me to be so far off seems wrong. Can anyone help? Thank you!

[Wayne Brooks]

You have no recourse, period.  Publicly available county info even had it that way.  On a side note, I always advise people to simply ignore the "occupied, do not approach, trespassing, blah, blah, blah". Simply go knock on the door, it's not trespassing, you get a feel for the type of resident/owner you'll be dealing with and you never know what else you may learn.