r/RealEstate • u/Alarming_monkey • 1d ago

How do I find ownership history of my house?

I just bought my first house and have had my biggest fear come true. Although I had an inspection that turned out ok considering the age of the home, I have discovered I need a new foundation. The issue was hid behind multiple layers of boards, therefore the inspector could never find it. The seller was required to disclose any defects not discoverable by reasonable inspection. Only issue is I need to prove he knew about it. I’m wanting to find the previous owner prior to him to see if they knew of it and if they disclosed it. Is there any way of me finding out the ownership history of my house? Thanks

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7

u/Equivalent-Tiger-316 1d ago

The title company you used should have this information. It’s part of the title search. 

3

u/unicornlegend79 1d ago

Check your counties tax assessors website.

1

u/Alarming_monkey 1d ago

Ya I just had someone suggest the city hall which I think would be the same. I’m going to go down there next week. But I can check out the website too. Thanks

1

u/unicornlegend79 1d ago

You're welcome. Good luck.

2

u/Alarming_monkey 1d ago

Thanks I’m going to need that for sure. The cost of the repairs could be a much or higher than my mortgage

2

u/Artist4Patron 1d ago

Tax assessors office many if not most you can find the info on net

2

u/Specific-Pool-5342 1d ago

Sorry if this is not very helpful, but maybe consider looking at pictures from previous listings (if they are available). Not plugging a website, but homes dot com will sometimes show historical photos. If old pictures were available that show exposed foundation but now it's covered up... well, you can see where that leads.

My current house, for example, shows pictures from the listing when I bought it, and from a listing as a rental 10+ years ago.

Good luck.

2

u/Alarming_monkey 1d ago

I’ve been trying to find any old pictures or postings but they always take down the postings down after the property is sold. I’m hoping when my realtor gets back to me next week she might have historical records that I can’t find. Oh wait…this place was a rental…um I wonder if I can find the rental postings 🤔 thanks that’s another possibility for me to look into rental postings

1

u/dreams_n_color 1d ago

Homes.com is the best website I’ve found to see pictures of the house each time it was listed. My house has three prior listings I can see, going back many years.

2

u/Alarming_monkey 1d ago

I’ll check that out. I’m in Canada. Does it work here n Canada?

1

u/dreams_n_color 1d ago

Did you try it? I’m in the US, I tried some Canada addresses with no luck. It’s such a helpful website too. :(

2

u/Alarming_monkey 23h ago

Ya I tried. No addresses came up

4

u/marmaladestripes725 1d ago

Sounds like you may want to engage a real estate attorney. They can do the research for you and have those conversations with former owners. At least, that’s what I would do. But I would be too anxious to contact anyone directly.

1

u/Alarming_monkey 1d ago

Ya I contacted my realtor and she said she will get back to me next week. I’m assuming the lawyer that did my closing will be the one to speak to. I’m hoping they will have access to the sold history of the house. I’m not sure about the confidentiality of the past sale contracts. I definitely don’t want to do any calls. This kind of thing needs to be through the lawyer but I’m just so anxious about it. I’m just trying to find anything I can while I wait. If I can’t find anything to put the cost on the past owner I’m stuck with having to take out a loan as much or more than my mortgage. I just know he knew. I just need to prove it.

0

u/Jenikovista 1d ago

I would hire a realtor with experience litigating damages vs a contracts lawyer.

1

u/Alarming_monkey 23h ago

Ya my realtor has never dealt with this before so I may have to look for someone who has dealt with this. I don’t know if the lawyer I had has dealt with it either. Something to keep in mind for sure

1

u/Opposite_Yellow_8205 39m ago

Even after doing the legwork, how would you prove who of if anyone 100% knew about the damage and purposely hid it?  You are chasing your tail and lawyers are expensive.  Im not saying you didn't get screwed but its your house now and your foundation...