A team of creative, knowledgeable professionals with integrity and resourcefulness is essential

Putting together a team of creative, knowledgeable professionals with integrity and resourcefulness is essential in today's marketplace. In August of 1964 a party purchased a home on a parcel of land they believed to be 145 ft. by 630 ft. Their deed stated that this parcel of land was subject to any rights the Board of Water Supply of the city of New York may have in the subject premises. They did not purchase title insurance at the time of purchase. In January of 2009 they decided to sell their home. They listed it with a broker and a contact was executed in April of 2009. Upon a review of the title, it became apparent that they did not own the entire parcel. A parcel of land approximately 52 ft. by 60 ft. crossed their premises and was owned by a third party. The intervening lot separated the house parcel from the rear parcel and there was no right of way of record to get to the parcel in the rear. The rear parcel was landlocked. A review of the title of the intervening parcel indicated that this parcel was auctioned off by the city of New York to a third party in December of 1964. Further examination revealed that the city of New York did not receive a deed for this parcel and there were no eminent domain proceeding that vested title in the city of New York. The city of New York merely had the subsurface right to dig a tunnel 400 ft. beneath the surface. However, in December of 1964 they auctioned off the property to a third party. The deed was filed and in that deed no rights were granted to the owner of the land it intersected for ingress and egress between his remaining parcels. Following the deed chain forward revealed that the intervening premises was now vested in the county for nonpayment of real estate taxes and the auction was scheduled for August of 2009. The homeowner was able to pick up the intervening lot at the sale for the cost of $500. The prior owner to the intervening lot was not served with the tax foreclosure proceeding, so therefore his possible rights were not cut off. Underwriting was willing to insure against the outstanding interest "for mortgage purposes only" if and only if a bar claim action was commenced prior to closing and if an escrow was taken to insure the proceeding would be completed. Seller's attorney objected and advised that "their" title company would insure without the exception. At this point, caution must truly be taken. Due to exclusion in coverage as a result of "knowledge of the insured," even if this outstanding interested was not listed as an exception to title, the purchaser would not be insured against this outstanding interest as he had "knowledge" of it. As such, buyer's attorney specifically asked for affirmative insurance against any possible outstanding interest of the foreclosed owner. The title then bounced back at me and hopefully the last detail will be taken care of and the title will close. I cannot stress enough how extremely important it is to choose your team carefully. Integrity, creativity, knowledge and resourcefulness can make all the difference in getting the job done and done right. Nan Gill is the president of Gill Abstract, Goshen, N.Y. and New York, N.Y.