Bank Sues Couple for Title Typo They Didn't Make

UPDATE: Barbara Borchers told AOL Real Estate that Bank of America faxed a letter to a local reporter who covered this story that showed that the property description on the home's deed was actually corrected in 2005. She also said that a Bank of America attorney says the Borchers may resolve the situation at no cost by signing a quit claim deed.

The PR headaches for Bank of America never seem to stop. Recently it was reported that the bank nearly foreclosed on one borrower for an 80-cent typo. A few months before, the hapless lender also came under fire for sinking a borrower's credit score over a $1 coding error.

Now news comes that the bank is suing a couple for an 8-year-old typo. The best part? The couple didn't even make the error.

Barbara (pictured) and Rich Borchers tell TBO.com that the bank has said that they need to fix an error made by their title company when the couple sold their Bloomingdale, Fla., home eight years ago. When the couple sold the home, the title company reportedly misidentified the home on the house's deed by writing a legal description for a different house in the neighborhood.

The home traded owners three more times after the Borchers sold it, with the mistake on the home's deed escaping the notice of real estate professionals time and time again. It was only when the home recently entered foreclosure under its latest owner that the error came to light, TBO.com reports.

Typically, the title insurance company would be responsible for amending the error, but the trouble in this case is that the Borchers title company has shuttered since the Borchers sold the home. As a result, TBO.com reports, Bank of America is left suing the Borchers and all the home's subsequent owners to correct the mistake.

Bank of America did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did the Borchers.

As tempting as it is to point a finger at Bank of America in this case, however, Peter Ticktin of The Ticktin Law Group, says that the Borchers may be stirring up controversy over a relatively minor inconvenience. All the Borchers likely need to do in order to resolve the situation is sign a "quit claim deed," which would correct the mistake and cost very little or nothing, says the attorney, whose Florida firm specializes in foreclosures.

Ticktin says that he believes that while banks deserve a bad rap for their irresponsible behavior leading up to and following the housing meltdown, in this case of the Borchers vs. Bank of America, "it wasn't the bank's fault either."

Of the two sides in the case, he says: "They're both innocents."


Also see:
Bernanke: Fed Should Help Turn Foreclosures Into Rentals
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