I will acknowledge this is a 1st world problem and we are truly blessed:

Do not assume even though this is their job and you are paying $$$$'s that the Settlement / Title company will crunch the #'s accurately, cross all the T's and dot all the I's. There were a couple warning signs, I had done some homework and double checked their numbers and asked some valid / pertinent questions. Crazy, there were multiple discrepancies and I was pressured to just sign and take it.

Sorry, in this arena I will accept nothing less than 100% perfection. I don't care what the market is like right now, the time for concessions and negotiations has passed. I said this is the line in the sand, fix it or I walk. A little more pressure, I gave my agent the look that said I am 10 seconds from walking out the door... settlement agent gets on the phone and fixed the #s.

Sale closed, money transferred! Thank God. I can now move on.

You expect that crap from car dealers. But a mortgage, I’d walk out too if they couldn’t get their crap together.

I'm a lawyer and have been in the title business in South Florida for 20 years. The sheer number of horribly stupid mistakes I have seen over the years would make you puke. Literally, tens of thousands of dollars are allocated to buyers and sellers incorrectly.

I find the #1 best thing for the consumer to do is call early and get the owner on the phone and get the numbers shined up early, not just a quote. Call the company and say I want to talk to the owner about this closing statement. If they won't get on the phone run. If you do this early enough you will have time to run and get a new company.

The problem comes when you are sent to a company and the consumer doesn't know what to ask. You would be surprised how little it can cost to have an attorney review your numbers.

I could write a book on this. I'm glad you got it worked out, but it seems like there was a lot of unnecessary aggravation.

PS. I am always available to review closing statements for SF members.

An attorney used to be required in my state, but no longer. I have twice gone the extra mile and had one both review everything early and to be present at closing.

I've bought 6 homes and sold 5. I've had 3 different problems with the title companies.

Don't assume the title company will read the forms you provide about your marital status. I had a living trust set-up 20ish years ago, and I was single so I had my Mom set-up as successor trustee. When I moved to Houston the first time, I arrive at closing at the title company's office and they ask where [insert Mom's name] is at. I provide them the name of my hometown which is in another time zone. They inform me that they can't close without my wife present, and I inform them that I'm single as I marked on numerous signed documents. Had to sit around twiddling my thumbs for an hour while they redid all of the paperwork.

Don't assume the title company will withold taxes required by the government when seller is a foreign national. In Anchorage, I bought from a Canadian oil & gas couple that were moving back to Canada. A few weeks after closing, the title company called me and said they're investigating whether or not I may be on the hook for them not witholding 10% for buying from a foreign national. Really non-chalant about me coughing up tens of thousands of dollars to the gov't because they gave all the money to the sellers. Turns out it was a corporate relocation so the foreign nationals sold to the relocation company (US entity) and the relocation company sold to me so everything was on the up and up. When they called they were shocked when I replied "well, glad I didn't have to sue you."

Don't assume the title company will use the mailing addresses provided to them on numerous signed forms. After closing in Anchorage, the aforementioned title company cocksuckers decided to give the property tax authority my old California address (I lived in California then Houston then Anchorage) based on some obscure document they grabbed (i.e. ignored the mailing address documents) in the mountain of paperwork. I had no idea, and when my coworkers are bitching at work about sending off their property taxes I realize I've never received mine. I call the property tax authority and find out they had been mailed to my old California address that I hadn't lived in 4 years so no forwarding. I call the title company to inquire why they provided 2 addresses ago instead of current address like I had filled out on forms. Of course they determine it's not their fault after a lengthy 20-second investigation and they didn't pick up the tab on the late fees for the property taxes.

[sarcasm]
Send them an invoice!
Clearly they don't pay attention well... maybe they'll go ahead and pay it! . [/sarcasm]

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:

The problem comes when you are sent to a company and the consumer doesn't know what to ask. You would be surprised how little it can cost to have an attorney review your numbers.

Or how much it could cost you if you don't....

quote:

I could write a book on this.

You should, could be a big seller...

Ran into a mess once with a re-finance. Preliminary numbers were that at closing we were due a check for a couple thousand dollars overage in our taxes and insurance escrow account. This was before Michigan had residential property tax limitations, assessments went way up each year and as a buffer we paid extra into our escrow each payment and the mortgage company would audit it every two years and refund the overage.

We went to closing and while my loan officer wasn’t there he assured me that everything was set the day before. He and I had worked together before he became a loan officer so it wasn’t like I picked him from thin air. At closing the mortgage company (same one, just different rate) said “Now we need a check for XXX” coincidentally almost to the dollar of what we were supposed to get back from them. I stopped everything and showed them the rundown including the part of a check back to us and the estimated amount. Wife game me a scared look and said “Now what?”

The two from the mortgage company looked at me and said “You can’t stop the closing” to which I replied “Watch me now” as I got up out of the chair and said “You screwed up, fix it or we walk now. I’m not giving you a check nor am I signing or leaving without a check now. Ball’s in your court now.”

One of the closers left and was gone for probably a half hour. Guess what? They discover3d an “error” and they were correcting it and to please be patient while this was happening.

My wife was a closer for 25 years and was meticulous with her work. Generally the screwups were from the lenders side of things.

On a related note, in states where attys are used for closings, be sure to get your own atty and don't use the one recommended by an interested party like the realtor. Even though they are supposed to be representing you, they have a conflict of interest because they don't want to jeopardize that referral business.

I had a buddy who bought a house and, despite my warning, he used the realtor recommended atty because the atty knocked $100 off his fee. There was an issue at the closing with the property taxes. The atty didn't push to get it fixed because that would have delayed the closing.

The issue ended up costing my buddy several thousand to correct. I didn't say 'I told you so', but I did say 'Well, at least you saved a hundred bucks by using that great lawyer'.

A friend was scheduled to franchise his Title business nationwide starting Monday. He goes to a closing the Friday before only to find the escrow account empty. His partner took the money and the only closing was of the business.

I hear you!

The last time I closed on a house, and anytime I help a friend or family member, I call the closing agent a week ahead and ask for documents in advance. They always say no. Then I say, that's fine, just know I'm a CPA and I'll read every word, check every comma, and double check every computation. Just make sure to factor that when you schedule/block time. I generally get the documents at least the day before.

The funniest was when we closed a home and none of my questions had been addressed. The attorney called his assistant and I could hear her say she got the email but hadn't had time to make the changes. (Changes she'd had for a couple days.) I pointed out a bunch of issues. He said just a second - called his secretary and told her to cancel his next two closings. I'd have been fuming if I was one of those folks.