Need a good attorney to get escrow money back! (Nassau: mortgage broker, refinance) - Long Island - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

Vivian08 · 01-19-2009, 12:43 PM

[SIZE=3]Hi, we bought our house in August 2008. At the time of closing, the old house owner does not have the Certificate of Occupancy of the screened patio. They built the patio in 1967, but did not get the CO. about a month before closing, they filed the paper work, and even redid the patio roof in order to get the patio. We closed the house under the condition that they would work hard to get the CO for us, and 5000$ was put into their attorney’s separate account, if in 6 months, they still cannot get it done, we should get the money. BTW, their attorney is really good, and ours is pretty bad, he did a terrible job protecting us, but charged us 1700$ (he said 950$ at the beginning). It is almost 6 months now, and we really don’t want to deal with our old attorney, he is not very nice. We want to find a good attorney to help us fight the money back. Can someone recommend a reliable and good attorney in Nassau county? Thanks so much. BTW, we want to refinance since the rate is low lately? Can we get it done if the house does not have the CO? Our current lender is bank of America, and they let us but gave us pretty high rate. can someoen recommend a good mortgage broker?[/SIZE]

TomMoser · 01-19-2009, 03:35 PM

It should not be much of a fight to get the escrow money. If the escrow agreement says that after 6 months you get the money, a simple request from your attorney should do it.

Vivian08 · 01-21-2009, 08:27 AM

Thank you, but do I need to pay the attorney if I have to ask him to request the money? what if he does not do anything even if I request him?

Elke Mariotti · 01-21-2009, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivian08

Thank you, but do I need to pay the attorney if I have to ask him to request the money? what if he does not do anything even if I request him?

No attorney works for free, unless maybe they're family or close friends...

My suggestion is to use the "assume it was included" approach:

--first off, put your dislike/dissatisfaction for your closing attorney aside or it could "show" during your conversation

--call him and inform him that the sellers still have not gotten the CO (don't forget they had six months!) and you would like him to conclude the transaction by writing the agreed upon letter requesting the escrow money

--after you presented your request, you could follow up by saying, "I'm/we're assuming this service was included in your fee, since it was higher than originally quoted, correct?"

If it was included, you won't have to pay anyone else; if it was not... well, you could voice your dissatisfaction about the higher than agreed upon fee and that you'd assumed it would include all necessary services, or tell him you'll never refer him to your many friends and business associates--you get the idea...

Just remember, the seller has the full six months to fulfill the agreement before the escrow money is yours.
Again, this would be my suggestion...

Good luck and keep us posted.

Vivian08 · 01-22-2009, 08:47 AM

Thank you!
[SIZE=3]He said the extra fee was for negotiating for our benefit before closing (which he did a terrible job, and did not get anything for us). We used BOA‘s no fee mortgage plus, and bank pays for the attorney fee, so he took advantage of that (he did not say that though). But your suggestions are good. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]We want to refinance since the rate is great now (our current one is 7%!), I don’t know can we even get it done since we still don’t have the CO? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]We still have about one month left. Our old attorney called us and left a message about a building inspector want to come and inspect the patio. We called and left messages for the number he left us, and told them that they can come in anytime for inspection, just give us a call, but nobody replied so far. Anyone knows since the time of building inspection, to finally get the CO, how long does it take? thanks![/SIZE]

Elke Mariotti · 01-22-2009, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivian08

T
We want to refinance since the rate is great now (our current one is 7%!)

Do you have enough equity in the house to refinance with another lender?

If not, maybe you can just deal with BofA, call about a modification and "settle" for a refi. They are already familiar with the transaction, so that could help with a new loan and take the pressure off you re the CO.

Also, if you do go the refinance route, always try to close late in the month.

adotnyc · 12-01-2009, 09:22 AM

Hi! Do you mind sharing who your attorney was (the one that did a terrible job), and the good attorney that you found?

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivian08

[SIZE=3]Hi, we bought our house in August 2008. At the time of closing, the old house owner does not have the Certificate of Occupancy of the screened patio. They built the patio in 1967, but did not get the CO. about a month before closing, they filed the paper work, and even redid the patio roof in order to get the patio. We closed the house under the condition that they would work hard to get the CO for us, and 5000$ was put into their attorney’s separate account, if in 6 months, they still cannot get it done, we should get the money. BTW, their attorney is really good, and ours is pretty bad, he did a terrible job protecting us, but charged us 1700$ (he said 950$ at the beginning). It is almost 6 months now, and we really don’t want to deal with our old attorney, he is not very nice. We want to find a good attorney to help us fight the money back. Can someone recommend a reliable and good attorney in Nassau county? Thanks so much. BTW, we want to refinance since the rate is low lately? Can we get it done if the house does not have the CO? Our current lender is bank of America, and they let us but gave us pretty high rate. can someoen recommend a good mortgage broker?[/SIZE]