After Closing Disaster... TRUE story!

[Shannan Bowen]

Hey BP Family!

This is for all my fellow RE Investor Specialists & RE Investors...

I was working with a faithful and very diligent property investor here in South Jersey. They did thorough research on the property interests, including contacting the township to inquire about any vacancy fees, unpaid water bills and such. I, followed up and contacted the townships as well to confirm that there were no unpaid fees owed by the current owners. We were told NO on every single occasion. The sellers even denied owing any unpaid fees and balances. Long story short, we closed two properties 15 days apart in the same town, on the same street a few houses apart. After we made settlement on the second property, within 30 days my investors received a balance due notice from the township for a total of $1200!!! $600 was due on each property. As you can imagine, my investors are livid at this point. Let me go back a second, there was a $50 unpaid water bill that my investors were unwilling to pay so in order to save my deal, I reimbursed them myself. Fast forward, had they known about this $1200 debt they probably would've walked away.

Now, I did my due diligence. I met with my broker, the title company and even called the REC. The only response and resolve I received was this; those debts should have been forwarded to the sellers and your buyers will have to pursue them for reimbursement! What a crock! Is that legal for a township to "hide" debts they are certain the sellers won't pay and then bill the new owners?

My question is, has anyone ever had this problem? If so, how did you get it resolved?

What other issues have you run into as an agent for an investor or as an investor?

Oh... and I lost those investors! Although they acknowledged that the fault wasn't mine, I was charged with being guilty by association!