Suing the person who gave you defective title is an option, and title insurance allows you to avoid that route for the most part (the title insurance company may still go after the grantor though if they can be found). You probably cold have gotten a large discount on both lender's an owner's title insurance if you used the same insurer again within a few years. The discounts are pretty common in refinances also.

Yes, Sue. The subcontractor is the primary & first source of the suppliers' payment. But, he's bankrupt. Every supplier does have the right to file a Mechanic's Lien &, in theory, one should get a waiver from every one of them plus all of the subs. It's impractical. So, most just get Lien Waivers from the subcontractors that states the sub has paid his suppliers. A Lien Waiver is only as good as the person signing it. :( Every homeowner who hires someone to do work on his/her property should understand Mechanic Lien laws. When you make final payment for the new carpet...get a Lien Waiver. When you make final payment for the new HVAC...get a Lien Waiver. Most states' lien law language says that the person/entity filing the lien must have supplied 'material' labor and/or supplies. So, the homeowner doesn't normally have to worry about every plumber who comes to fix the toliet; but it's a good idea to know how your state's laws read. DH & I recently had a floating cork floor installed in our kitchen & sunroom. We paid 50% upfront to cover the supplier's cost of materials. After installation, we exchanged our check for the remaining 50% for a Lien Release (Waiver) from the supplier. The installer was a salaried employee of the supplier so we didn't get one from him but had he been independent we would have had him sign a waiver as well. And, buy homeowner's insurance. Ultimately, Horton's going to have to pay this supplier. I'm rather surprised they've allowed it to reach this magnitude a problem. I don't imagine they would have in good times but Horton's really hurting & every $291K makes a difference in today's market. They've probably been trying to negotiate 'x' amount on the dollar with the supplier & he got fed up & filed a Mechanic's Lien to protect himself. /T

The issue before the courts is going to be establishing what level of proof is adequate that the note exists (and the debt it thereby evidences), and how to establish ownership of the note. It is a real mess (as Deutsche Bank found out after it closed the bond issuer (that did own the notes) to save money that backed the bonds issued. The bondholders own a share of the now closed issuer, but NOT the underlying notes. Ownership of the notes (and thus they debt they show) was in limbo till the court was convinced the the notes had indeed been assigned to Deutsche Bank. Wall Street and the banks played fast and loose with ownership of the notes and are now going to pay a price (that could have been avoided with better record keeping). The servicing of the notes became divorced from the ownership of the notes, with no real records of who held the 'wet ink' paperwork.

Yes, spam! ***** Super priority and extended super priority lien coverage is available in Canada. Super priority liens take precedence over all other liens against the property regardless of when they are registered. These are typically charges by government bodies. They don't have to be registered and there is no central source to find out about their existence. With coverage, you are compensated if a super priority lien would otherwise reduce or eliminate your equity. This protects property buyers and lenders. For example, our co. registered a second mortgage against a home. It went into default. When our solicitor checked title, he found a CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) super priority lien suddenly registered. The borrowers, who were in good standing when we loaned them the funds, had "overlooked" some $200K in income taxes the following year. They managed to refinance with another lender. But if they hadn't and the property were sold for a loss due to the $200K in back taxes and penalties, we would have been out those monies. Super priority liens and coverage exists in the US as well.