5 Features That Can Turn a Dream Home Into a Legal Problem

There are five features that can turn a dream home into a legal and financial problem, and most buyers do not find out until after they have already closed.

No legal access to the property. An unpermitted pier on the water. A pool you have not thought through. Active litigation over who actually owns the property. And recorded restrictions nobody read before going under contract.

In the video below, North Carolina attorney Tiffany Webber walks through all five, including the title litigation scenario where the person who sold you the house turns out not to have owned it.

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1. No Legal Access to the Property

Here is a misconception we hear constantly. People assume that if a property is landlocked, meaning no road, no driveway, no legal path to reach it, the government is required to give you access. Call somebody, file some paperwork, and it gets sorted out. That is not true.

Buy a landlocked property and you are most likely going to have to sue somebody to establish access. Hiring an attorney, going to court, spending money you did not plan to spend, and waiting, sometimes years, for a resolution that is not guaranteed.

These situations usually happen when a larger piece of land gets divided over time and somewhere along the way access to one parcel just disappears. Nobody planned it, nobody caught it, and now it is your problem.

Before you make an offer on any property, especially rural land, inherited land, or anything a little off the beaten path, pull the plat and look at how the property connects to a public road. If you cannot draw a clear legal line from the front door to a public street, stop and call an attorney. We covered this one in more depth in the types of homes we would not buy.

2. A Lakefront Home With an Unpermitted Pier

If you are buying lakefront property, especially here on Lake Norman, this one is critical.

A pier is not just a dock. It is one of the main reasons people pay a premium for lakefront. Walking out the back door, getting on the boat, being on the water. That is what the money is for.

Duke Energy Lake Services manages the shoreline on Lake Norman, and if a pier was built without the proper permits, they have the authority to make you take it down. Not the previous owner. You, the new owner. You paid lakefront prices, you bought the house specifically because of that pier, and now you are being told to remove it.

Before you close on any lakefront property, get documentation that the pier is permitted. Ask for it. If the seller cannot produce it, your attorney needs to verify it before you sign. This is not something you clean up after closing.

3. A House With a Pool

This one is personal preference, not a legal rule, and you can call her crazy for it. Tiffany would not buy a house with a pool.

A pool is a liability. If somebody gets hurt in your pool, a neighbor kid, a guest, somebody who was not even supposed to be there, you are potentially on the hook. Premises liability is real, and pools are one of the more common sources of it.

You can get insurance. You can and should put up fencing, and many places require it for permitting. Plenty of people own pools and never have a single problem. A pool does not make a house unbuyable.

But if you are buying one, do three practical things. Make sure your homeowners insurance covers it. Understand what your county requires around fencing and barriers. And factor in the ongoing cost of maintaining it, because a pool is not a one time expense.

4. Active Litigation Affecting the Title

This is the one that keeps us up at night, and it should concern you too.

Two people disagree over who the true legal owner of a property is. Maybe a family dispute over an inheritance. Maybe a boundary issue that escalated. Whatever the reason, there is litigation pending over who actually owns the property, and while it sits unresolved in court, the property goes on the market. You find it, you love it, you close.

If that litigation resolves after you close and the court determines the person who sold it to you was not the true owner, you do not own anything. You paid for a property that was never theirs to sell.

That sounds extreme, and versions of it do happen. This is exactly why a title search exists. A thorough title search reveals pending litigation affecting title, but somebody has to actually do it, and do it correctly. This is not the place to cut corners.

If the title search reveals active litigation over the property, do not close until it is resolved. It does not matter how much you love the house. Walk away or wait.

5. Restrictions You Have Not Read

Almost every buyer skips this one, because it feels like homework.

Every property with a homeowners association, and many without one, has some form of recorded restrictions. Covenants, conditions, and restrictions. They are recorded in the public record and they run with the land, meaning they apply to every owner, potentially forever, until they are removed.

Those restrictions might say you cannot have pets above a certain size. They might require a certain style of home. They might prohibit parking a boat or an RV. They might restrict what colors you can paint the house or whether you can put up a fence.

We have seen buyers fall in love, go under contract, and find out weeks later that the restrictions make the property incompatible with how they actually want to live. By then they have paid a due diligence fee they are not getting back.

And the answer is not simply avoiding neighborhoods with an HOA. Plenty of properties with no association still have recorded restrictions on them. Get a copy before you go under contract, read them, and ask about anything you do not understand. Once you close, those restrictions are your reality whether you read them or not. If you already own and the restrictions are the problem, there is a process for that, which we covered in how to remove property restrictions in North Carolina.

Watch the full video for all five in detail.

Common Questions

Does the government have to provide access to a landlocked property?

No. There is no agency that grants access on request. Establishing access to a landlocked parcel generally means a court action, which costs money and time and does not come with a guaranteed outcome.

Can Duke Energy make me remove a pier I did not build?

If the pier was never permitted, the shoreline authority can require removal, and that falls on the current owner. Documentation that the existing pier is permitted is the thing to get before closing.

Is a pool a liability risk for the homeowner?

It can be. Premises liability claims involving pools are common, which is why insurance coverage and the fencing or barrier requirements in your county matter, along with the ongoing maintenance cost.

What happens if I buy a property that has a title lawsuit pending?

You may be buying from somebody a court later determines was not the owner. A thorough title search should reveal pending litigation affecting title, and the sensible move is to wait until it is resolved.

Do properties without an HOA still have restrictions?

Often yes. Recorded restrictions can exist on a property whether or not an association enforces them, and they run with the land. Pull them before you go under contract.

Buying Around Lake Norman?

At Thomas & Webber, the title search, the recorded restrictions, and the access questions all get handled before closing, while you still have room to walk away.

Our offices in Mooresville, Cornelius, Denver, and Kannapolis serve buyers and sellers throughout the Lake Norman area, including Davidson, Huntersville, Sherrills Ford, Troutman, and Statesville.

Email your contract to close@thomasandwebber.com or call us at (704) 663-1600 to schedule your closing with us.