Developer · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 32 posts · 1 vote
Can anyone help with ideas on what to do with this scenario that is occurring in Tarrant County Texas. This is a friend of mine's property.
John purchases a priority that consists of half a duplex prior to a tax sale directly from a seller. Each half of the duplex is marked with a separate address and there are two sides. Unbeknownst to John, 5 years prior to his purchase, the other side of the duplex was purchased by Jose through owner finance and Jose converted the house to a single family home. The reason Jose converted the house was because an unscrupulous prior owner advised Jose that both sides of the duplex were his.
It's not Joses fault and jose is a good family man who is an illegal immigrant afraid of suing the seller. But now the buyer is stuck!!!
Is John or Jose your friend? In either case, your friend needs to consult an attorney. For that matter, both John and Jose are going to need to spend some time and money with an attorney.
Is the seller in John's purchase the same seller in Jose's purchase? If so, was did that purchase involve any inspection or the property or a title company? If not, was the seller aware that the property was actually being used by Jose? Seems like this seller scammed John, and he should be the target of John's ire.
Jose was also scammed by his seller when he was told he actually owned the whole property, not just half. Jose is about to spend some time in court regardless of how this plays out. He's occupying and has made improvements to a property he doesn't own. He's a squatter, even though he thinks he's the owner. From what you've written, it seems like John has a solid case to get him evicted from this half of the duplex and may be able to win a monetary judgement for the "damages" Jose has done to his property. Again, an attorney is going to be essential to sorting this out.
If the same seller sold to both John and Jose then I think they gang up on him and get him to sort it out. Best way would be to unwind the deal with John and deed over the half of the duplex he told Jose was his.
I would start with the seller that sold him half of a duplex that in many ways didn't exist.
I don't see this being cleared up without lawyers being involved,,tell your friend to go get a good attorney,,,the guy that sold him this should be on the hook if he has any assets (which something tells me he doesn't)
Is John or Jose your friend? In either case, your friend needs to consult an attorney. For that matter, both John and Jose are going to need to spend some time and money with an attorney.
Is the seller in John's purchase the same seller in Jose's purchase? If so, was did that purchase involve any inspection or the property or a title company? If not, was the seller aware that the property was actually being used by Jose? Seems like this seller scammed John, and he should be the target of John's ire.
Jose was also scammed by his seller when he was told he actually owned the whole property, not just half. Jose is about to spend some time in court regardless of how this plays out. He's occupying and has made improvements to a property he doesn't own. He's a squatter, even though he thinks he's the owner. From what you've written, it seems like John has a solid case to get him evicted from this half of the duplex and may be able to win a monetary judgement for the "damages" Jose has done to his property. Again, an attorney is going to be essential to sorting this out.
If the same seller sold to both John and Jose then I think they gang up on him and get him to sort it out. Best way would be to unwind the deal with John and deed over the half of the duplex he told Jose was his.
John, the purchaser of the property is my friend and the seller who sold the property to Jose is not the same seller as the one who sold it to John. The seller who sold to John inherited the 1/2 duplex and doesn't know anything about what has gone on there. They owed $18K in taxes on the 1/2 duplex and basically sold ti to John for a small amount with the understanding that they would cover the taxes and make it go away.
It's clear that an Attorney should be involved. Jose is also an innocent party and the problem is that he doeesn't have deep pockets and is also not in a financial position to rectify the propeblem.
I am hoping someone has a creative way of getting to the unscrupoulos person... some cause of action or some other idea!
Then John is the one that may be able to sue the "unscrupulous seller".
Jose may be an innocent victim, but he is going to be hurt by any action other than giving him the property. Perhaps the thing to do is to approach Jose, tell him he doesn't actually own the other half of the property and attempt to sell it to him for what John paid plus the back taxes.
@Jon Holdman has the only option that I see where Jose isn't going to get completely hosed.
If I'm reading your posts correctly, the deceased owner, whose heir has now sold 1/2 the duplex to John is not the person who sold to Jose. Also, since there is likely no chance that Jose is going to pursue any kind of action, because of his immigration status, John would have to bring suite against the person who sold to Jose. Anyway that plays out, Jose is going to wind up in trouble and losing something.
If the tax issue has been resolved, John can simply sell the 1/2 of the duplex he just purchased to Jose, who would then own both sides. John has lost nothing but a little time, and Jose's life doesn't get turned upside down.
If John takes the person who sold to Jose to court, if I'm that attorney, I simply tell Jose he walks away and doesn't testify or I report him to immigration. Jose is the only person who loses in this deal, unless John has mercy on him.
Unfortunately, people who have no legal status will always be targets for fraud, because they have little recourse. I'll save my immigration speeches for a different forum.
Are we to believe that the previous owner of the half recently sold to John, had no idea Jose had thought he owned both sides, and had converted it as such?
Also, without Jose's participation, John/Buyer has no "standing" or is not in a position to Sue the person that Jose purchased the property from without Jose's involvement, which is not possible. It's sad, but that's the situation!
@Andy Collins there are several areas in the DFW area that there are 1/2 duplexes. I have not seen it in too many other areas Most were built in the 80s
I am not an attorney but I see a plausible scenario where no party has any legal action except maybe John to evict Jose from his side of the duplex
Jose may or May not have been defrauded when he bought the property. That would be up to him to bring the action. He could check his deed to see what he bought
I'm not seeing what John's action would be ? If he bought the property as-is from an estate who is not required to provide a seller's disclosure, what would his action be other than to evict Jose?
the person that took advantage of someone (or everyone) is the seller,,,I am a little confused how the buyer didn't realize what was going on until after closing,,
Assuming by "half a duplex" you do mean two separate legal descriptions, two fee simple properties, then it looks like a straight eviction. Obviously, he needs to have an attorney involved. Looks like Jose got duped, but he only owns the other half, so a partition action wouldn't apply here. I would assume John knew the situation going in.
Did John buy this sight unseen? A tiny bit of due diligence would have revealed the situation. Has this actually closed? I think John should try to unwind this deal and let the heirs deal with it. A lesson from the school of hard knocks.
Even though I'm a newbie I truly cannot believe that no one knows anything about this whole fiasco. Personally I believe Jose may have taken it upon himself or his own understanding as to the remodel, because somewhere on some piece of paper there has to be a description of some sort that actually IDENTIFIES WHAT HE PURCHASED. If he didn't bother to read it that's his fault. As for John find your out in this deal immediately. The easiest and cheapest way out may simply be to get with Jose, who if he didn't know then, now knows the truth of the situation regarding his dwelling and while his status is what it is, he still owes some money to someone and that person deserves to be rightfully compensated. Realistically John still has the opportunity to make some extra cash in this equation. Make Jose a REI and offer him a wholesale deal on owner finance for the other half of the duplex. Who knows in the future he may decide to divide it up and become a landlord.