By Joseph D. Brown | The Mind Unleashed
Due to an error in the paperwork, a woman accidentally bought an entire neighbourhood consisting of 85 lots, many with homes already built on them, rather than just one house.
The lucky woman paid $594,481 for what she believed to be one house in Sparks, Nevada, which is located northeast of Reno. The homeowner, who lives in Nevada but has not been identified, chooses to remain anonymous.
Nevertheless, once she completed her paperwork with the assessor in Washoe County, the woman discovered that she was now the owner of 85 properties in addition to two common areas.
The 85 homes would have a total value of roughly $50 million, according to estimates, which indicates that she acquired a significant amount more than what she paid for.
Due to an apparent error in her paperwork, the documentation indicated on July 25 that she owns “lots one through 85… and Common Areas A and B.”
The chief deputy assessor for Washoe County, Cori Burke, suspected Westminster Title, a “full-service title company,” in Las Vegas, was to blame for the mistake.
The surprising blunder resulted in the buyer receiving the title deeds to a huge number of other properties.
When drafting the homebuyer’s deed, “It appears Westminster Title out of Las Vegas may have copied and pasted a legal description from another Toll Brothers transfer when preparing (the homebuyer’s) deed for recordation,” Burke explained.
She continued: “Because it was pretty clear a mistake was made, our assessment services division reached out to Westminster Title right away so they could begin working on correcting the chain of title for the 86 properties transferred in error.”
The developers will now reportedly receive a transfer of the ownership titles back to them after being reissued with the corrections.
Nonetheless, the existing homeowner may still decide not to accept the transfer; however, there is no evidence to suggest that she is planning to reject.
As Burke explained: “This particular case is just a little more interesting because of the number of lots involved. It is cut-and-dry for us, but we only see the recorded documents, not what the title company goes through to get clear title.”
“I think someone could try to make things difficult. However, the title company also has the offer and acceptance for the purchase on file so the intent is pretty clear,” she added.
“I would think it would be a loser in court and doubt it happens often, if at all.”
When questioned by The Reno Gazette regarding her recently established business empire, the unidentified woman only responded with a smiling emoji.