Lender Sells Same Foreclosed House To Two Separate Buyers; Blames Escrow Agent For Closing One Deal In Error

In San Clemente, California, KABC-TV Channel 7 reports:

• The real estate market may be suffering, but that didn't stop one Orange County home from selling - twice. Doug Garhartt and his partner Brandon Lively bought the foreclosed townhouse in San Clemente last March. They moved in and started renovations but a week later, Garhartt said, the nightmare started.

• "I came home from work and found an eviction notice on my door that said you have three days to move out of your home," he said. Through a series of mistakes, the townhouse they had purchased at auction for $365,000 had also been sold to an investment group, which had paid more than $345,000 in cash.

• "We're kind of in no man's land," said Garhartt. "We bought a property but we don't have the property or the money, so we don't know what's going on at this point."

• Both of the buyers have the deed to the property. One West Bank handled both deals and Point Break Escrow closed them. [...] Garhartt alleged the bank was at fault. "They just simply forgot to cancel the foreclosure. It was a mistake. The right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing."

• According to court documents the bank said the escrow company closed the sale by mistake. The bank said it did not receive a required form before closing. The escrow company denied this and said it had property delivered all documents to the bank.

For the story, see House accidentally sold to two buyers in OC.