Need a lawyer for refinance closing (Bellmore, Nassau: real estate, mortgage broker, broker)

[frimdaddy]

Can anyone recommend a real estate attorney for a closing in 2 weeks? Must be in Nassau - the house is in Bellmore.

TIA - Jim

[OnOurWayHome]

Are you sure you need one? No one I know has used one for a re-fi. We refinanced last week without one.

[mathjak107]

well i thought who needs a lawyer to refinance so i didnt get one...... well we all go to closing and it was an inheirited house we owned for 15 years ...

the title company looks at the will and stops the closing..the will was missing a key word they said... it read to my child beth i leave my house...it was missing the word ONLY as in only child..

the closing was halted, i had to get affidavtes from relatives she was an only child ... i lost my rate, i had to pay the banks attorney and title company for the day and had to reschedule....

while you generally dont need one it can cost you 3x that amount of having one if an unavoidable glitch pops up that can be caught first


like everything else NOTHING IS OR LOOKS LIKE A PROBLEM, UNTIL ITS A PROBLEM

[OnOurWayHome]

Your lawyer on the original transaction didn't catch it?

[mathjak107]

NOPE,,,, they missed it

[Interlude]

That's actually a pretty big deal; if it turns out that you had another kid out there, and her name was Beth... well, listen, it sounds dumb but lawsuits are usually based on silly things like that. Having a lawyer for a re-fi is pretty unnecessary, typically, and most wouldn't even think to look at things like that.

[mathjak107]

i agree if its a pretty straight forward ownership you dont need a lawyer but without knowing the history behind their house its not something anyone of us can make a call on....

was their house inheirited?
was there a divorce and a name supposed to be removed?
are there any trust entaglements ?
any liens? or liens that were supposed to be removed?

as you can see there are quite a few bumps in the road that can snag a refi unknowingly...

the last thing we expected was a snag in our refi....we owned the house outright for 15 years since it was inheireted, and were doing a refi on the house to buy an investment property...

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Interlude

That's actually a pretty big deal; if it turns out that you had another kid out there, and her name was Beth... well, listen, it sounds dumb but lawsuits are usually based on silly things like that. Having a lawyer for a re-fi is pretty unnecessary, typically, and most wouldn't even think to look at things like that.

it wasnt an issue of another kid named beth, it was an issue of any other kids... for a will to be well constructed it should list whether or not there are other children and whether they are getting or not getting anything. merely leaving them out can be considered an oversite by the court and the title company wanted no part of that game....

[frimdaddy]

Uh, nice disussion my friends, but how about the name of a good attorney? That was my question :-) We did find one, by the way.

An attorney is needed because the refi involved a buyout in a divorce case and the person being bought out has some financial problems. Turns out it was a good move because the mortgage broker wanted to "deed off" after the bank closing. The attorney pointed out that this leaves the title more open to challenge later. Also, the bank had a "due and payable" clause, so if the deed ever transferred, they could ask for all the money back as soon as the title was refiled. Normally it does not happen, as long as you pay the mortgage, but still a nasty possibility.

If you talk to real estate brokers (the experts at buying and selling) they tell you to ALWAYS use your own attorney. 99.6% of the time everything is fine. That 0.4% is the killer, though. The attorney we used kept us out of a dangerous deal. We're still in process so if it goes well, I'll post the name.
- Jim

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by frimdaddy

Uh, nice disussion my friends, but how about the name of a good attorney? That was my question :-) We did find one, by the way.

An attorney is needed because the refi involved a buyout in a divorce case and the person being bought out has some financial problems. Turns out it was a good move because the mortgage broker wanted to "deed off" after the bank closing. The attorney pointed out that this leaves the title more open to challenge later. Also, the bank had a "due and payable" clause, so if the deed ever transferred, they could ask for all the money back as soon as the title was refiled. Normally it does not happen, as long as you pay the mortgage, but still a nasty possibility.

If you talk to real estate brokers (the experts at buying and selling) they tell you to ALWAYS use your own attorney. 99.6% of the time everything is fine. That 0.4% is the killer, though. The attorney we used kept us out of a dangerous deal. We're still in process so if it goes well, I'll post the name.
- Jim

Thanks for sharing the above. You're absolutely right about the .04%, especially if it's a divorce case!
It doesn't pay to be penny wise and pound foolish!