A woman planned to buy a single-family home in Sparks, Nevada — and left with 84 vacant lots and two other pieces of land, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
The planned purchase was $594,481 for one home, but a clerical error left her with an entire neighborhood. The title bureau made a simple copy-paste error, according to Cori Burke, chief deputy assessor for Washoe County, who spoke to the Reno-Gazette.
“It appears that Westminster Title of Las Vegas copied and pasted a legal description of another Toll Brothers transfer when preparing the deed of (the home buyer) for incorporation,” Burke told the outlet.
(Burke didn’t immediately respond to entrepreneurs call for comment outside of her normal business hours.)
In this case, Burke told the paper that the relevant title agency, Westminster Title Agency, inadvertently turned over a property description relating to the Toll Brothers luxury development near Reno to the Sparks woman.
The Toll Brothers develops luxury real estate across the country, but with a particular presence in the West and Florida and the “most desirable areas in the country.” per his website.
A home in this development in particular offers nearby golf courses and views of the Sierra Nevada.
Burke’s office was able to catch the moron pretty quickly, she told the outlet.
“Since it was quite clear that a mistake had been made, our assessment services department immediately contacted Westminster Title so they could begin correcting the chain of ownership for the 86 properties that had been wrongly transferred,” she added.
Burke also told the Gazette that this happens “quite often.” To fix this, ownership must be transferred back from the Sparks woman to the Toll Brothers and the people who bought them from the Toll Brothers.
It’s a red tape that probably requires more than just copying and pasting.
Westminster Title Agency, which appears to be owned by the Toll Brothers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Toll Brothers.