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Old 03-17-2014, 07:13 PM
 
15 posts, read 24,151 times
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Anyone have any title company issues? We are buying a bank owned REO and they are using Shore to Shore Title out of Delray Beach. My broker, the underwriter, and both realtors have constantly tried to contact this lady and she refuses to reply. Out of 20 emails, she responds to one. I'm worried as she hasn't sent any documentation or HUD details and we close this Friday. Is this normal? Are they that booked that they wait till the last minute? My earnest deposit of 5K is in my realtor's attorney escrow per the banks requirement and the closing company hasn't even requested to have it transferred.

Is there any hope or am I going nuts for no reason? I'm about to Facebook hound her and start posting bad reviews everywhere. It just seems unacceptable for the lack of response.
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Old 03-17-2014, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FL
5,662 posts, read 10,743,344 times
Reputation: 6950
Tough to say that this is typical but it is definitely something that happens. Your agent has to do what it takes to get the deposit there in time but now you know why I think buyers should select their own attorney to handle the closing or, at least, oversee the title company's activities.
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Old 03-17-2014, 07:39 PM
 
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Yea, I'd pick it if I could. Part of the requirements was the bank picked the title company and paid for the title insurance. The latter I was fine with but this title company, I'm about to start pestering their attorneys.
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Old 03-17-2014, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FL
5,662 posts, read 10,743,344 times
Reputation: 6950
They can't make you use their title company. Whoever picks the title company, pays for the owners title policy. It's not too late to get a real estate attorney recommendation from your agent. It is worth it to have them looking over the title company's shoulder. You would not believe some of the screwed up things that can be involved in a REO.
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Old 03-17-2014, 09:02 PM
 
15 posts, read 24,151 times
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I'll contact my realtor tomorrow and see what I can do. On the sales contract, it was noted seller chose paid for title. The listing agent may be willing also to get an addendum to change that. It's just irritating considering I have a 26' haul sitting @ 40 per day waiting to close.
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Old 03-17-2014, 10:27 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,105,339 times
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Hubby and I have bought and sold a lot of real estate so we have seen the good bad and ugly. A few thoughts for you.

The part that may be your fault
Maybe things are different in Florida, but we have never had the title company ask us to send the ernest money. Our experience is either (1) we have given the realtor the ernest money and the realtor sent it to the escrow or (2) we have sent an email requesting wire transfer information and wired it. The person answering the phone at the escrow should be able to give you wire transfer instructions.

Escrows usually don't know the exact amount due until about the day before. We have usually gotten a preliminary HUD statement about 3 days before and the final after closing.

Escrow can't get info needed
If the people they are trying to get info from don't give it to them, they can do the hud if they aren't getting the info. For example, we were selling and had paid our property taxes but the county hadn't cashed the check so we could pay twice and close and get a refund (god knows when) or we could just keep waiting and checking for them to cash the check so the HUD statement would be correct. There can be all kinds of things like liens on the property, back HOA dues, late fees, that they don't have info on.

Foreclosures don't usually go smoothly

We have found that escrows that have a problem are the ones that are the hardest to get information about. We had B of A sell us a condo they didn't own. The day we were supposed to close, it was confirmed it actually belonged to Fannie Mae. It took 45 days for Fannie Mae to quit claim ownership to B of A and for us to close. The lack of information may be a sign that they have a thorny problem.

When we have bought foreclosures, the lender picked the title company and they pick the cheapest (read understaffed).

Yes there are incompetent title companies
There are also title companies that are incompetent. (In CA we call them escrow companies). We are currently selling a number of properties in CA and we suspect that the escrow company was a big part of a 45 day delay. We were told in would close in early January and it closed late Feb. A government agency was loaning the buyer the downpayment. There were horrible problems of communication between the lender, the government agency (rep was on vacation), and the title company. But mostly we blame the escrow agent. Every week for that whole time, we were told "next week" or "next week for sure".

We complained to our realtor who defended her. The next escrow she couldn't make the hud statement balance. Then she sent us a check for 280,000 instead of 208,000. Too bad we couldn't keep it.

She is so incompetent but it finally dawned on us why the realtor keeps using her. Our realtor is African American and he kept producing Chinese cash buyers for us. And they are all from the same town that is not partially Asian. Finally Hubby and I looked at each other and said "duh". The escrow agent is Chinese and her company is in that town. That realization made us a lot more tolerant of all her screw ups.

Where does all this leave you?
It doesn't really matter at this point whether there is a problem with your escrow or you have an incompetent escrow agent. It is what it is and there is nothing you can do to speed it up including changing companies.

On the day you are supposed to close, you will find out whether it is going to close that day on not. If I were you I would be trying to find the cheapest storage facility in case the delay is going to be long. Better to make a plan now than getting bad news and trying to make decisions when you are in shock.
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Old 03-18-2014, 08:09 AM
 
8,005 posts, read 7,221,727 times
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The banks' title companies for Florida foreclosures are always difficult to deal with. They are dealing with literally thousands at a time. In addition to poor communication you can expect some hefty garbage fees on your side of the settlement statement. Hopefully you got a good enough deal to offset the extra fees you'll be paying. Everything you mentioned, in my experience with dozens of foreclosure transactions in Florida, is, unfortunately, normal.
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Old 03-18-2014, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FL
5,662 posts, read 10,743,344 times
Reputation: 6950
Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that you have an attorney take over the file for the closing. I think that might delay you even further. I am suggesting that you have an attorney review everything before you sign off and pay. They know what to look for and the right questions to ask. The other bit of hope for you is that even though many of these title companies handling REOs are difficult to work with, the bottom line is that they have to get them closed or the bank/Fannie/Freddie would cut them loose. You may end up with significantly shorter finger nails, less hair, and a shortened lifespan, but you should still end up with a house one way or the other.
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Old 03-18-2014, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,615 posts, read 7,539,060 times
Reputation: 6036
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbronston View Post
Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that you have an attorney take over the file for the closing. I think that might delay you even further. I am suggesting that you have an attorney review everything before you sign off and pay. They know what to look for and the right questions to ask. The other bit of hope for you is that even though many of these title companies handling REOs are difficult to work with, the bottom line is that they have to get them closed or the bank/Fannie/Freddie would cut them loose. You may end up with significantly shorter finger nails, less hair, and a shortened lifespan, but you should still end up with a house one way or the other.
Totally agree with getting your own real estate attorney to represent you when buying a REO. The title companies working for the banks rarely provide the type of service you would see in a "normal" sale and having your attorney contacting them vs the real estate agent does get better results. Your attorney can also dispute the garbage fees Bob mentioned and usually get most of those removed from the closing statement. My experience is that hiring your own real estate representation when buying a REO is money well spent.
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Old 03-18-2014, 08:34 PM
 
1,917 posts, read 2,630,654 times
Reputation: 731
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbronston View Post
They can't make you use their title company. Whoever picks the title company, pays for the owners title policy. It's not too late to get a real estate attorney recommendation from your agent. It is worth it to have them looking over the title company's shoulder. You would not believe some of the screwed up things that can be involved in a REO.
As a Real Estate agent you should know that they most certainly can make you use their title company all they have to do is make it a condition of the sale.

Gary
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