Q: Can we go back to the title company or the bank (the seller of the property) to get reimbursed for property taxes in FL?
We purchased an apartment second half of October 2017. During closing, we were given a credit of about $250 for prorated taxes for January 1 through October 15th. When the actual bill came, the property tax for the year was $1400. When we contacted the title company, they informed us that they base their tax calculation on the previous year's taxes, and since property taxes in 2016 were a little over $300, the allocation was $250. However, in 2016, the apartment was owned by an elderly couple who claimed homestead and other exemptions, while in 2017, the apartment was owned by a bank. I sincerely doubt that a title company wasn't aware of the different tax rates applicable to 2016 vs 2017 and feel like they either purposely misrepresented to benefit the seller (they are consistently chosen by the bank for the title search work) or were negligent in preparation of the closing statement. Any legal action that I can take to recover the tax amount we unjustly were forced to pay?
A: IMO--without reading all the documents you signed and agreed to--the cheapest and fastest way to recover your loss is to hire a very experienced banking and business lawyer and pay them about $450 to write the bank a very strong letter "asking" then to help you pay the rest of their real estate taxes ($1,150) for the year 2017--that they know or should have known they would have paid had there been no sale. There is another avenue here too.
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