Title work comes in for a file that is set to close in two weeks. It shows that there is an old mortgage on the property that should have been satisfied previously. Good, we have two weeks, not two days! I hate it when these come up a few days before closing. I begin work on trying to determine where it closed when that mortgage was paid off. This is generally the best route to take because we can then get them to issue us a letter of indemnity which is just a letter accepting liability for that extra mortgage instead of leaving that liability with us. After some searching for the title company I discover that a title company was not used. The mortgage company that did the refinance sent a signing company instead so we now have no one who can indemnify us. On to the next challenge- locating the mortgage company and trying to get a satisfaction of mortgage to file against the property. Title shows the mortgage is held by MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.) which is basically just a holding company. I am able to go online and find out who the last servicer of record is but of course they are no longer in business. After a lot of calling and google searching I think we have tracked down the company who took over for this mortgage company. I then find that they have ceased their North American operations and only have offices in South America. I proceed to call and try to get someone to understand exactly what it is we need but it is difficult. At this point I have spoke with someone who seems to know what we need and faxed everything over to her. This whole process has exceeded the two weeks and the closing has not happened yet. The South American mortgage company representative needs a few days to do some research so I will hopefully hear something soon. Whether or not they will be able to help us at all is questionable and if so, how long it will take is a concern.
Please read my first blog on title score and you will now see why a property “checkup” is so highly recommended. If we are unable to get anything from this company, the next step is for the sellers to obtain a real estate attorney to do a quiet title action on the property- get a judge to remove the mortgage- and the cost and time of that will probably kill the whole deal. Not a good thing for the agents who have put so much time into the transaction and especially not a good thing for the sellers and buyers! Call your local title company and have them check out your title..
