Real Estate

This development in San Diego, CA may be condemned. The builder is bankrupt and homes cannot be sold. Also, no loans available. There was never a Cert. of Occupancy issued and inspections were not completed. Bank, escrow, and title all say they have no CO. Does bank and title company have responsibility?. I want my bank, Wells Fargo, to do the right thing and admit that they loaned a large amount of money to me on a home that can not be safely lived in, until major repairs are made, possibly a complete tear-down and rebuild. HOA is attempting with law suit to get at least $50 million that is needed to rebuild. Meanwhile the individual owners including myself are in big trouble financially and foreclosures and short sales are the only real estate activity. I have read case law that indicates the lender is responsible for the loan and the title insurance company is responsible for my purchase price when there is no CO. I plan on filing a claim against the title insurance, and I have requested either a reversal of the original transaction and a return of my investment, or a large write down of my loan to compensate for the loss of my large down-payment and the amount of the loan underwater. So far, Wells Fargo is stonewalling and say it is my problem and they are not responsible. I have contacted the county Building Department, and they have confirmed that inspections were never completed.

I am not optimistic regarding the HOA lawsuit, since I’m not confident that they can successfully get enough money to get the job done properly. They seem to be more interested in protecting themselves from lawsuits than representing all of us, since there has been lots of fraud involving the original developer and past board members. Also this could drag on for years.

There is another individual/group law suit to help recover damages for the owners, but again I’m not very patient with this process and I wish to mitigate some or all of my losses as soon as possible. Anyone with a California legal/real estate background please comment on what my chances are for recovering if I press the issue with the lender and the title company.

Wells-Fargo is a money lender, and is in NO way responsible for the physical condition of the property which you purchased. It is always a buyer responsibility to have the premises inspected for possible physical defects/issues. Don’t expect any relief from the lender here. It is not at fault.

Your title insurance policy isn’t going to cover you either. You HAVE clear title to the property, but you do not have a CO. A CO is NOT a part of a property title, and it is not the responsibility of the title insurer to check that a CO has been issued.

Sorry to tell you this, but you and the others are in a mess for which only the bankrupt builder is responsible, and chances of getting blood out of THAT turnip are very low.