Title and/or Deed Issues Attempting To Sell Property Recently Purchased

[Conrad Meier]

We bought a property the end of last year that needed more work than we realized, so we started gathering estimates for rehabbing the property. Anyways, we had someone make an offer on our property that would get us out of the deal and breaking even. We started the process to sell it and this is what the buyer’s attorney has brought to our attention. I summarized and consolidated multiple emails into the below segment.

“We have reviewed the title and found that there was a tax deed issued in 2023. The property has since been sold twice and no quiet title action or a quit claim deed from the defaulting tax payer have been recorded. In order to issue a clean title, General Warranty Deed, and an owner's title policy to our new buyer we will need one of those two things. That is the only way to clear the title. The affidavit recorded with the deed does not dismiss the title issue or clear it. Our title insurance agency will not be able to insure this without either a deed from the defaulting tax payer or a quiet title action by the seller.”

When we purchased the house we were given title insurance and a general warranty deed and when I provided my paper work to the buyers real estate attorney they sent the above messages to us and our previous closing attorney. What is the actual problem? Do I own this house? What do I actually need to do in order to fix this? Do I contact a title search company or a real estate attorney to begin solving this “issue”?