Posted by HisHughness on 11/16/10 8:27pm
Msg #361633

Will one of you former escrow...

...give me your take on this, please?

Just closed a reverse for a lady who has had the closing repeatedly reset on her since last week. Because of a major -- like $100,000 -- tax problem that's about to land right square on top of her, she desperately needed to get it closed. I was scheduled to close at 2 p.m. today. I got the HUD at 3 p.m.

The loan officer has been telling the lady since last week that the title company is the reason for the delay.

With one exception, every document the title company sent me for this closing is boilerplate, requires no dollar input, and could be created weeks in advance. The title company docs totaled 26 pages; the lender docs totaled 131. This particular title company uses the same document package for every loan. The only document not part of that standard package was a document acknowledging the cancellation of a lien in 1993, which admittedly could have caused a few hiccups, but my understanding is that it's been taken care of for a while.

Was the loan officer just scapegoating the TC, or could her accusations have some merit? I just don't see how the TC could have been the primary impediment.

Reply by Julie/MI on 11/16/10 8:38pm
Msg #361634

I don't think it's the boilerplate title docs, but gathering the final numbers for the final hud CAN be the fault of title. But if title requests a tax bill from a city and the city doesn't provide it, it's not necessarily the fault of the title company. I used to have to make those calls in the 80's.


Then again, most loan officers (not to be confused with loan processors) really know what title does anyway. And it's easier just to use a "boilerplate" excuse such as it's title's fault then to really dig deep and get the specifics as to why it's taking so long.

Reply by SReis on 11/16/10 9:08pm
Msg #361636

Find many LO'S lie to cover themselves...

Had closing the other day that had been rescheduled 3x. Last rescheduling was due to an issue w/the appraisal (thats what title said anyway). Title calls me to reschedule (again) & lets me know that the LO told borrowers the reason it was cancelled the last time was because the atty (ME) got into a car accident & couldn't make it out. I told title that if borrowers ask me about it I am going to play dumb because there is NO WAY I will go along w/the lie. Why can't they just be honest!!

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 11/17/10 7:08am
Msg #361657

This had two potential deal-breakers - the 'tax problem' is one, regardless of what kind of tax (the IRS can lien against your property), and the Satisfaction of Lien from '93. Old liens where a Satisfaction hasn't been recorded can be a massive headache - though you say it was 'taken care of' a while ago. Depends on who said it was 'taken care of', and their understanding of what 'taken care of' actually entails. I'd say a good bet is that the majority of people who've never worked at clearing title do NOT have much beyond an anecdotal & limited understanding of the complexities.

That all said - LO's pretty much say what they want to say, because of the power in their relationship to the Title Agent. The LO is the CLIENT of the Title Agent; rare is a T/A who is going to 'out' an LO for scape-goating them and risk losing that account. This little power-struggle isn't even a struggle; LO's and their brokers will find a new 'friend' in a heartbeat. Pretty much like it is with us.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 11/17/10 7:13am
Msg #361658

adding to that ...

When I was on the inside ... you'd have a deal come through with some kind of cloud on title, and it couldn't close. A week or two later, you'd see the SAME deal come through with a different title agent's commitment, cloud evaporated. I think this is what they mean by "fair weather" friends? lol