Has this ever happened to anyone? House sold to 2 people at once

[Nicole Clemens]

Hi Guys,  

I purchased a property 2 weeks ago - purchased as in went to settlement, paid the title company, received keys from the seller- and I received a call today from the title clerk stating that she was contacted by the County tax collector who told her that the property that I purchased has already been sold a month ago at a tax sale and that they were returning my money!    

Here are the details:

-The sellers are the children of the deceased owners.  They have owned the property for a few years and let it sit while not paying the taxes.  The didnt sell it right away because they needed to clear some things up with their attorney regarding the estate.  Once things were straightened out, we put it under contract and scheduled settlement.  

-Settlement was postponed a few times due to a rivalry between the siblings and some additional things that had to be cleared up by their attorney.  

-Apparently a letter was sent to the (vacant) property via certified mail (but there was no signature) stating that if the taxes were not paid within 30 days, the house was going up for Sheriff's sale.  No one rec'd the letter so no one knew about it.  The house did go up for Sheriff Sale.  Then they sent another letter (that no one rec'd) stating that the house was sold and they had 30 days to challenge it.  

-Shortly after those 30 days had passed, I made settlement on the property.  Title searches were done and nothing came up.  

So now, as we stand, the delinquent taxes were paid to the County by the funds of the Sheriff Sale buyer.  My funds were denied by the County because the taxes had already been paid.  The 30 day period that the seller had to take back the house has passed and the Sheriff Sale buyer is in the clear.  But I also purchased the property and have been in it for the past two weeks with contractors etc, cleaning it out, started demo etc.  and now they are basically telling me that I need to take my refund and be on my way....