In the year 2022, a woman made the decision to purchase a new house in a neighborhood boasting a total of 85 properties up for sale.
This woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, confidently invested $594,481, believing she was acquiring a single house in Sparks, located just northeast of Reno, Nevada.
The moment of truth arrived as she meticulously reviewed her paperwork with the Washoe County assessor. It was at this juncture that she made a startling discovery: she had unwittingly obtained much more than she bargained for.
The paperwork clearly indicated that she owned "lots one through 85… and Common Areas A and B". Talk about an unexpected windfall!
Cori Burke, who serves as the chief deputy assessor for Washoe County, explained that this confusion likely stemmed from a typo during the form-filling process with a full-service title company based in Las Vegas.
According to Burke, it appeared that the title company inadvertently "copied and pasted a legal description from another Toll Brothers transfer when preparing (the homebuyer's) deed for recordation".
Thanks to this small oversight, the woman found herself the owner of property estimated to be worth around $50 million, instead of the $594,000 she thought she was spending.
Burke pointed out that it was "pretty clear" a blunder had occurred. He mentioned:
"Our assessment services division reached out to [the company] right away so they could begin working on correcting the chain of title for the 86 properties transferred in error."
While you might think such a scenario is rare, Burke revealed that mix-ups like this can happen more often than you'd think, mainly because copying and pasting is so straightforward.
"This particular case is just a little more interesting because of the number of lots involved," she said.
"It is cut-and-dry for us, but we only see the recorded documents, not what the title company goes through to get clear title."
"I think someone could try to make things difficult. However, the title company also has the offer and acceptance for the purchase on file so the intent is pretty clear."
Burke concluded by stating that the mess was tidied up two weeks after it occurred. It was during this time that "true and rightful ownership was restored" through the issuance of new documentation.
"The assessor's office has updated the ownership on all associated parcels," Burke added.
