Reply by Anonymous on 11/4/05 11:27pm
Msg #74496
1. I have a bright yellow form I use on every closing. Borrower name, property address, title company, date, file number, return tracking number etc. AND THE BORROWERS SIGN AND DATE IT. That way I can prove I was there. Still, the loan might not fund and sometimes I do not get paid.
2. The you follow the previous suggestion and check with the courthouse. Sometimes, they will tell you over the phone, when the last mortgage was recorded, occassionally, a nice clerk might tell you who notarized it. It not, you might have to go to the recorder office and get a copy. There are two type non certified cheaper and certified(an embossed seal on it) non-certified should be sufficient.
3. Send them a demand letter. I include a photocopy of my sheet where the borrowers sign. In your case perhaps a copy of the notarized mortgage page. Note your arrangement might have been you get paid whether the loan funds or not. In that case, you can still make your claim but it it tougher to prove.
4. To file in small claims, you have to follow the rules of your state. You might be able to file in your county, or you might have to file in the county where the vendor owes you money. Most of the rules are on line these days or you can call the filing clerk and ask. You can often fill out all the paperwork at home, have you signature notarized and send it in.
What I have done when it came to that, was filed out the form but not filed it and sent a fax of it to the offending company stating that if I do not have check in hand, I will file and if I win they will owe my fee plus court costs. Often that gets action.
If not, file the form. It is just like peoples court, bring your evidence, including their denial letters and you copy of your notarized signature on the mortgage(I might swing back past the court house a get a certified copy). Make sure you put all your costs into your court claim, the fee, certfied mail costs, the cerfified copy of the mortgage and filing fees.
Right after you file, I would hit them with a subpeona. You can do them in concilation court and it is pretty cheap, but a major pain in the arse for them. Demand they bring all accounting records with them, email transcripts, bank records, copies of files for the period of a month before and month after your transaction.
If they do not comply, the judge often gets mad at them for contempt of court.
The day of the case, you bring your evidence to court. Usually with a court mediator, you show the other side your evidence. That may cause them to voluntarily settle. If not, stand up and tell the judge your side. They tell the judge their side. If they do not show up, you win a default judgement. If they are there, the judge makes a decision. They usually have about a month to pay or it becomes judgement eligible. After a month, you take the decision and docket it at district court. They you can ask for a Writ of Execution which has the amount you won from the judge, plus they add in the court and filing fees.
You mail the signed Writ to the Sherriff in my state and tell them which bank to serve(thus, ask around and find out where their general account is). Then, send the Sherriff there and if the account has money in it, the bank must fork it over to the Sherriff and you get paid.
I have done this several times, not signings, but on rental properties. Still, the process works the same. I collected several judgements. It takes time, but I have prevailed. Despite winning, I strongly recommend you read the next two paragraphs.
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Now if you want to work for these people again, you might try another approach and try to turn a negative into a positive. For example, take your copy of the notarized mortgage with you and stop in to market to the head closer. Ask here to take a look(hopefully you copied down from the front of the mortgage, the lender, perhaps a loan number, the date, etc and you can convience the head closer you did the transaction. While they owe you say $150, they could pay you back by giving you three more closings at $200 each to be paid promptly.
Hey, we all make mistakes, perhaps they had a poor bookkeeper and you have had to suffer, but show them you are in it for the longer term and want to build a relationship.
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Still, be sure to learn from this experience. Where did you go wrong? Make sure you get a written confirmation, make sure the amount is write, if it does not discuss a reduce fee if the long does not go through, that is there problem, if it does, make sure you are comfortable with that.
Some out of state companies drag there feet. I call them and tell them I have not gotten the revised confirm and I do not ship documents back until I get it. I say I am sorry and I am sure they are good people, but I have gotten burned a couple times in the past so I must insist.
If I am on the road, I tell them that my business part is checking my email waiting for the revised confirm. It is a bluff, but they do not know that. Many times, I have already dropped the documents back to them, but I have not given them the tracking number, so they assume I am standing my ground.
Get a form that the clients signs and date where you fill in the name, address, title co, lender and the borrowers sign. (I get one on a first, another on a second and if there is a home equity line after that, a third one. I also write done the title company file number and lenders loan number. Usually, when billing errors arrive, I can document my position and it gets resolved quickly. I have one on every loan I have done. Comes in hand at tax time, after I leave the clients house, I write the fee on it. When checks come in, I check of the fee and move the form from the Collect File to the Paid file.
Good luck
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