Don’t Shoot the Messenger – Part I

What do you mean it’s not MY parking space?! 

Recently while listing a condo in a residential complex, another owner wanted to know if our seller would be willing to trade storage spaces.  His car was parked in front of our seller’s storage space and he had been parking in this space ever since the owner purchased in the complex which was many years ago.   It made sense to him to have the storage space in front of where his car was parked.

In the meantime, we received the Preliminary Title Report for the property we listed.  For those of you not “in the know”, a Title Report will identify the parties who own the home, liens against the home including tax liens such as property taxes and mortgages, and a legal description.  It also identifies…you knew this was coming right (?), the deeded storage and parking space(s).   Long story short, the space where he has been parking is not actually his assigned space per the Title Report.

Lessons to be learned:  As a Buyer, you are responsible for reading the Title Report which should include a map of assigned parking and storage spaces.  The fact that the parking space that you have been parking in for the last several years does not make it your legal parking space.  In this instance, the unit we’re selling was a rental for many years and undoubtedly a friendly agreement was made for whatever reason to swap.  When thinking of buying or selling, make sure you know what parking and storage spaces are legally assigned to the particular unit.  It will save a lot of unanticipated headaches.

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