All Forum Posts by: Marjorie Martin

Actually there was an error because the number indicated on the contractual attachments, and upon which basis the parties acted, was a number that was not reflected on the county's records.  A number was on the county records applicable to my sister and my tenure with the house, and the title agent did not use that number in the contract - she used a number based on my father´s tenure, which she had known to be incorrect.  As I noted, we do not know now what the original number was and the number indicated on county records now applies to the new owners, who have lived there six months (and who are much younger than I am and are likely to have different exemptions).  I practiced law for twenty years in the U.S. (very little time in Florida), but common law has the error of drafting construed against the drafter.  The statement regarding the parties ¨settling¨the matter would have no legal significance in any jurisdiction I practiced in because it does not specify the manner in which such settlement should be determined (in other words, that language is too vague), and again, I don´t live in the U.S. and will not be returning, thereby making any type of research or settlement somewhat difficult.  Moreover, we remain stuck with the lack of knowledge about what our original tax bill should have been in order to determine what amount of payment might be outstanding. We can´t pay an amount that has not actually been determined, which is a problem due to the title company´s clear error.  If the contract had reflected the amount that was in county records at the time of sale, we would know for sure what was the actual difference between the amount

Thank you for your insight all, but the problem is considerably more complex than perhaps was indicated.  The contract documents either completely failed to specify an amount owed for taxes as of the date of sale, or the amount indicated on certain schedules was incorrrect (clear title company error as the correct amount would have been accessible online, and it was their job to obtain the figure provided for the relevant year from the county database), and none of the parties were aware of that.  I was not present for the sale because I live in Europe, so I was told that certain gaps would be filled in by my representative after I signed the documents, but this particular line was the responsibility of the title company to fill in.  They further failed to adequately assign responsibility and the agreement only states the parties will settle any errors in the calculation on their own. Besides the fact that I am not in the same country as the buyers and communication with these unknown people would be difficult, the title company representative who emailed me of the error provided completely erroneous figures for the amount owing, and now we do not know what the taxes actually were that were applicable to my time living in the house (just prior to and for nearly a year after my father´s death). The county records reflect the current assessment for the current buyers for 2019, and in no place show what the assessment would have been for the period the house belonged to me and my sister (a higher assessment than the period when the house was my father´s).  

My sister and I just received an email that the calculation of real estate taxes on the sale, completed  this past September, of the house our father left to us, was done incorrectly  and we have to settle it with the buyers. This would presumably have us reimburse the buyers nearly $3000. Who is responsible  for this error in the calculation of the pro-rated taxes owed by the seller to the buyer?  I am not in the USA and can't  easily get an answer. The taxes apparently  increased because  my father had exemptions that ended with his death, but I did a still-timely last-minute filing for homestead  exemption in that state (Florida) as I had lived there and in that house just prior to the sale, and the title company  would  have had the final calculation  available  from the state taxing agency.