Discrepency between Tax Card and Title

[Nick Causa]

Any one ever have this issue before? My wife and i are buying a triplex and the title of the property lists it as a 2 family and the tax card lists it as a 3. There are three separate living quarters in the building that have been rented out at one time or another. Because i’m doing FHA I doubt they’d give us a loan with this being the case. It almost seems like it is an illegal three family as there are no permits pulled on any recent reno work. My lender says the title supersedes the tax card on what the property is cleared as in order to secure a loan. The seller’s lawyer says the appraisers only look at the tax card. Our lawyer says a tax card or assessors card doesnt determine if it is legal. Weird that this guy pays taxes on three but the title says two no? Whole thing seems fishy. Any info would help.