This story begins many summers ago, in 2008.
Kristena Johnson told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke a piece of property in Salisbury changed hands multiple times, including six different parties over the years. At one point, there was a corrected deed.
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“On paper, it belonged to me. I have a registered deed,” she said.
Johnson says everything seemed fine until she went by the site last year.
“I was really shocked to know that someone had started building on it,” she said.
Johnson, who works in real estate, blames that corrected deed. She thinks the corrected deed set off a chain of transactions, which clouded her right to the property. She sued but lost. She also lost the land.
“It’s a very, very low feeling because there’s nothing more that you can do,” she said. “It’s just going through a rabbit’s hole of investigating. How [did] this mistake happen? How did it happen?”
She has title insurance, which protects property owners if there’s a question over who owns the land. However, she says the title insurance would only reimburse her for what she purchased the land for, which was $10,500. The land is now worth six figures, she says.
She tried another argument called adverse possession.
In many states, including North Carolina, if you occupy land you don’t own for a set period and meet other legal requirements, you can claim it. But that didn’t work either.
“I just want to put people on notice, especially as a real estate broker, the importance of double checking, even behind attorneys and paralegals, because mistakes do happen … some of those mistakes are very costly,” she said.
Action 9 reached out to the group that ended up with property but hasn’t heard back.
Stoogenke, who was not involved in the purchase of the property, exchanged emails with the attorney who represented Johnson in the lawsuit.
He said it’s important to know:
- It is so important to verify the legitimacy of every link in a property’s chain of title.
- You should never rely solely on a recorded deed.
- Always do a full title search before any transaction.
- You, or your real estate agent, should probably run things by a lawyer before closing.
“An ounce of prevention can protect years of equity.”
Stoogenke adds: Still ensure you have title insurance.
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