Discovery:
This past week we ran into a situation where a beautiful newly constructed home was built on a parcel of land, which had a graveyard! The seller disclosed the presence of the graveyard to the buyer and to the buyer's agent. All parties involved were aware; however, their lender was not aware of this and neither were we (title company), thus creating an uncomfortable issue.
Issues:
You may be asking, "OK, why is that an issue at all?" Well, the main problem arises from the fact that graveyards aren't insurable and neither is the right to access them. This means that both the graveyard and the ingress and egress from it are listed as special exceptions in the title policy, i.e., there is NO coverage under title insurance. If the graveyard ever caused marketability issues in the future it would be the BUYER'S responsibility and not that of the title insurer.
Another issue comes from the families of the deceased having a possessory interest in the property, i.e. whoever has a relative in the graveyard has the right to visit the site regardless of who owns the property. In other words, these visitors may cross into the property at any time.
A third issue comes from the sheer cost of moving the graves. Each grave site will cost anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 depending on the contractor hired to do the move. The cost of the move will NOT be covered by the title insurer. So in the event that the buyers have to move it later, the buyers will now be solely responsible for paying the bill.
Lesson Learned:
So if you find a house with a graveyard on it, do think twice before you "bury yourself" in these issues. Now it's MY turn to ask you, "What have you learned?" If anyone out there in AR has dealt with this, I would deeply appreciate your input.
Comments (14)Subscribe to CommentsComment