Legally, do I have a case against my mortgage co. & city?

Question

Our mortgage escrow has been taking tax money out of our account on two land parcels for 5 years that we do not own and have never owned, in fact they don't even exist on the city tax website. We have had our monthly mortgage amount raised every year due to this and as you can imagine we have struggled, had a car repossessed, bills piled up, been in and out of foreclosure numerous times, we have had to pay many mortgage penalties, ect. We need to know if we would have a good case to sue the mortgage company and tax office, for this has had us struggling for 5 years and we have lost almost everything because of it.

If we have a good case, does anybody know what type of lawyer we need? Or any recommendations for any good ones near Houston, TX?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Better have solid proof to start with where they've been charging you every year.. And I'm not sure what type of lawyer that would be..

Answer 2

The question in court will be:  How come it took you five years to question what was going on? You will not be able to blame anyone for your bill paying problems since you did not even know where your money goes.  And if you have cell phones, cable TV, especially the Super Premium package, a new flat screen TV, boats,  a sea-do, new cars, etc. you'll never be able to prove your problems are some one else's fault.  But I'm sure if you can scrape up the $$$ you can find some sleeze-bag lawyer to take your case.  Just be prepared to be laughed at if your money problems were caused by you--and that includes inattention to details like where the money was going.  

Answer 3

if you can prove they've been taking taxes on a property you don't own, you definitely have a case. you will need a property dispute lawyer. check your phone book and just start calling lawyers! best wishes  

Answer 4

You need to contact the Attorney or Title Company who handled your settlement when you purchased your home. They would be the ones who gave your Mortgage company the tax parcel information. Check with them to be sure you do NOT own this parcel of land you are paying taxes on. If you Definitely do not own the property then yes you could sue them for damages and you would need to contact a Real Estate Attorney.

I would start by going back to the company who handled your purchase of the property as they would have been the ones responsible for searching the Title to your property and relaying the correct information to your mortgage lender.  

Answer 5

There is cause for action here against possibly the mortgage company or possibly the state (since it is the state's assessor, not the city's). Your escrow account is your money, set aside as a service to you and to make sure the mortgagor doesn't lose their investment because the mortgagee didn't pay taxes.

It would have been better to take action immediately upon the increase in your escrow. That said, the money is still yours. The process will be complicated, but you must prove you do not own the land upon which taxes are being paid, and the city must prove that you do. This means they must produce a deed of trust or warranty deed as an instrument to show that you are the owner. If the city cannot, then the state has wrongfully collected money from you. If neither the city nor the state had any cause in the collection of the money from your escrow account, then this is an error by the mortgage company and they must reimburse you.

You will need an attorney for this, if for nothing else to help sort through all the paperwork and documents.