Chicago family pays $65K to keep Lawndale home accidentally built on wrong lot years ago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago family was almost kicked out of their dream home after more than a decade of living in it because, in a bizarre twist, it was built on the wrong lot.

The Miller family didn't do anything wrong and yet, they are paying a huge price.

"We just wanted somewhere where our family could call home, we wanted to stay in our community and we wanted a place where our son could lay his head and we would have no worries." Sharmaine Miller said.

But she and her husband Pernell have had nothing but worries. In 2005, they bought a three-story home and started their family in the city's Lawndale neighborhood. Then, in 2019, they were told their property was sold for delinquent taxes. The Millers had been paying a property tax bill, but the bills they received were for a different lot; the lot next door.

"We were told we might get evicted, we might lose the house," Sharmaine explained.

This is what happened: The Millers' home was supposed to be built on a vacant lot, LOT 39. But the builder built the home on the vacant lot next door on LOT 38.

All of the Millers' paperwork - the plat of survey, the deed, the building permit, their mortgage and title insurance - had the correct lot listed, LOT 39. The Miller's thought their home was on LOT 39. But the builder, now out of business, built it on LOT 38.

"There should have been checks and balances from a whole lot of different people," Sharmaine said.

For eleven years, the Millers received tax bills for LOT 39, the vacant lot where their house was supposed to be. The Cook County Assessor mistakenly assessed the lot as if there was a house on it. In 2017, the Assessor corrected the problem, but didn't alert the Millers. The couple knew something was amiss when their tax bill suddenly decreased.

"They would say 'there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong'. But something's wrong," Sharmaine said.

The Cook County Assessor's Office admitted to the I-Team that they made the property tax mistake, saying, "steps taken during a prior administration resulted in an assessment error that has since been corrected," and that it "will support the family by providing any documentation needed in their efforts to rectify the situation."

The Millers believe they are due a refund since they paid for taxes on a vacant lot as if it had a house on it. But, the Assessor's Office said it cannot refund the Millers due to Illinois' statute of limitations.

Meanwhile, when they were paying those bills on the vacant lot, the taxes for the lot with Miller's house on it went unpaid and defaulted. That's when a private firm bought those taxes and told the Millers they had to move.

This situation has caused the Millers much stress.

"I'm feeling anxious, nervous and upset about what's going to happen with us," Pernell Miller said.

The I-Team also checked with the Cook County Clerk, which recorded the Millers' deed.

They told the I-Team, "The root cause of this problem is the fact that the home was built on the wrong property in 2005. Even if the couple had contacted the Clerk's Office years ago, employees would have...had no way of determining that there was another property in question."

To keep their home, the Miller's reached a settlement with the private firm that bought the delinquent taxes. It cost the couple $43,000, plus attorneys' fees.

"If we wanted to keep our house and we had to pay for everybody else's mistakes," Sharmaine said.

Between the settlement and property tax overpayments, the Millers are paying $65,000 for others' mistakes.

"Everyone involved needs to make us whole. We do not deserve this, make us whole," said Sharmaine.

The Miller family now owns both lots. The family is exploring other legal options but their attorney said they can't sue the builder because he's out of business and it's past the statute of limitations. The title company denied their claim of coverage and would not give us a comment.

This issue is so rare, it's unlikely to happen to you. But you can protect yourself by ordering a new land survey before you buy a new home.