CHARLOTTE — James Hoffman saw the paperwork: A piece of property in foreclosure, which was a parcel for sale on Rozzelles Ferry Road in northwest Charlotte.
“I said, ‘Oh man, this is a great deal,’” he told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke.
He bid on it and won. Then he found out he didn’t buy the property with a house that he wanted.
He had bought the vacant lot next door.
“I would not have bought it,” he said.
The address had changed during the foreclosure process. The address on the court documents, which was what Hoffman relied on, was the old one.
Stoogenke explains what happened.
The person who owned the overgrown lot owed taxes, and Mecklenburg County foreclosed on it. Somewhere in that process, the street address changed. It’s not clear why. But the lawyers for the county say legally the property’s “legal description” must stay “identical” throughout “the foreclosure.” So, it did. The county said buyers should go by parcel numbers anyway, saying “street addresses are subject to frequent change.”
The county emailed Stoogenke this full statement from the law firm that handled the sale for the County (excluding personal information): “At the time we initiated foreclosure on July 6, 2021, the tax records on file in Mecklenburg County indicated a street address of [xxxx] Rozzelles Ferry Rd as being affiliated with Parcel Identification Number [xxxx]. Therefore, we articulated that address in our legal description for Parcel Identification Number [xxxx]. It appears that the County subsequently updated the street address affiliated with Parcel Identification Number [xxxx].
“However, the legal description contained in the complaint must be identical to that in our judgment, notice of sale, and eventual deed within the course of the foreclosure action. Therefore, we did not update the street address midstream in the foreclosure action to reflect [xxxx].
“Because street addresses are subject to frequent change, it is critical when researching a particular parcel to rely on the Parcel Identification Number, which remains consistently affiliated with the parcel, as opposed to the street address.
“A basic search query of the Parcel Identification Number “[xxxx]” in the online Mecklenburg County tax records, as well as Geographic Information System (GIS), yields the exact vacant parcel on the winning bid.
“It’s on the buyer to do their own due diligence,” Hoffman said. “But I think it’s … for the law firm ... to do what’s right. Who can you trust?”
In this case, the parcel number didn’t match the Rozzelles Ferry address anymore. It matched the overgrown lot Hoffman ended up with.
“I feel like Mecklenburg County should make it right, even to the point that they should even give me what I lost,” he said.
Plus, he says the parcel he now owns is landlocked -- no access to the street -- so he’s not sure what to do with it. He says he’s out more than $73,000.
Bottom line: Whether you’re buying property in foreclosure or not, it may sound odd, but don’t trust the street address. Always go by the parcel number. And make sure you check every digit carefully. The two parcels in this case had the same numbers except for the last two digits.
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