Posted by aj/ca on 8/16/05 7:22pm
Msg #59512

unmarried man

I had a signing today which had a single man as borrower. He was never married. The DOT had "unmarried man" on it. Can this go through like that?

Reply by clarise_oh on 8/16/05 7:36pm
Msg #59516

From what I understand, the DOT has to match how the borrower is vested in title. So if the deed says, Sam Signer, an unmarried man, the DOT says the same.

Reply by Charles_CA on 8/16/05 8:03pm
Msg #59517

Re: unmarried man, scratching my head???????

Why wouldn't it go through like that???? What does the vesting have to do with anything. If the guy was unmaried was it not a factual statement????? Do you believe that there is some unstated stigma involved. It is just a statement of fact, that's it, nothing else!

Reply by buylamb on 8/16/05 8:25pm
Msg #59521

Re: unmarried man, scratching my head???????

I just refinanced my house and I am an "Unmarried Man" and an "Unmarried Notary"...DOT listed me as "Unmarried" did not refer to my Notary status, however.

Reply by Marie_MD on 8/16/05 8:38pm
Msg #59526

Re: unmarried man, scratching my head???????

I just did a CAL closing in the state of MD it said unpartnered. Guess it all depends on the state. When I do a closing for a Gay couple it usually says unmarried for both parties, but when I notarize I NEVER add the unmarried statement, as I am not there to prove that, only to witness their signatures.

Reply by TitleGalCA on 8/16/05 8:57pm
Msg #59529

You must have some title experience AJ.

Legally, there are certain ways of holding title to real property:

People who have never been married are "single persons".
A divorced person is "unmarried man/woman".
More than one individual are "joint tenants" "tenants in common" "community property" or "community property with the right of survivorship"
People who's lost their spouse are "widows" or widowers.

In community property states such as CA, it's important.

It sounds like lender made a boo-boo drawing docs. It should have been "a single man". But..it doesn't invalidate the lien of the mortgage. In a simple refi, the title company may or may not catch it - mistakes happen.

As a signer, it's up to you whether or not to bring it to anyone's attention. A little knowledge can sometimes be a bad thing... (welcome to my world).

Reply by Marie_MD on 8/16/05 9:20pm
Msg #59535

The woman was a widow. I thought the statement had some to do with the same sex marriages in CAL.

Reply by TitleGalCA on 8/16/05 9:23pm
Msg #59536

In same sex unions (not marriages...yet) they usually go into title here in CA as single men/women, joint tenants.

Reply by aj/ca on 8/17/05 10:09am
Msg #59609

Thanks everyone. TitleGal, yours is the answer I was looking for. I did alert the title co, whether that was a good idea or not, and whether I overstepped my bounds I'm not sure, especially if it holds up the loan.

Reply by TitleGalCA on 8/17/05 12:32pm
Msg #59648

It shouldn't hold anything up, AJ, even if it gets recorded the way it stands now - it's not fatal. I get last minute calls frequently with LO instructions to white out or strike out vestings and change them.

Hope they appreciated your heads-up. I had one SS tell me "it's not your concern". I had to bite my tongue as the documents were recording...in my own title unit. I laughed for an hour.

Reply by Brian/CA on 8/17/05 12:18am
Msg #59562

No bid deal. I had one recently, they just changed it from "a widow" to "an unmarried women". Even the borrower thought it was strange.