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Hi, I'm in Texas, so laws may be different here than elsewhere
I'm writing a news story about a woman whose home was foreclosed on and I have copies of all her closing paperwork from when she bought the house. One thing that jumped out at me is that on the Real Estate/Broker Registration form, her estate agent gives his name, A_____ H_______, but then his name appears on another page, listing him as the Loan Officer for the company from whom this woman got the loan. On both forms he gives his phone number as that of the lending firm. This seems fishy to me. I understand it was legal, but it's a conflict of interest, no?
Another thing: One the Real Estate Agent/Broker Registration form, the space for the man's license number is left blank. Is this normal or is that even necessary?
I'm concerned that the lender/estate agent/and developer were either loosely affiliated or had an understanding of some sort. The closing papers were signed in May and she was given a "new homeowner" packet, but the homeowner's loan wasn't approved for six months
Last edited by dogeatery; 12-21-2008 at 10:12 AM..
Reason: more questions
Anotehr weird thing is that the taxes on this property totalled $3000 even though theys hould have been prorated for only two months (November and December). How might she have gotten stuck paying these taxes? Would it be a clause in her contract? Would it be passed on to her from the previous homeowner (the developer/builder in this case)???
Is there a Title Agent/Escrow Agent listed on the paperwork? If so, I would call them and ask them the specifics on how the taxes were credited on this deal.
Not that I see but there's paperwork from a title company called Commerce Title included in the packet. It was sent July 2005, meaning they closed the house months before she'd even secured the loan!
Is this who I should call? (Not that I expect they'll tell me anything)
Without a release the title company won't tell you anything about that specific transaction. Texas is an attorney state so their should have been 1-2 attorneys involved in the transaction. I think buyers are required to have one.
THL-TexasHorseLady can probably be your best source and I think Austin-Steve (??) is another agent that participates on the forum. You may want to DM them if they don't pop on here. Austin-Willey is a commercial real estate (I think) attorney and he pops on here every so often.
Out here many loans required prepaid property taxes. So for example, our property taxes run July1-June 30. If the deal closed in April, the bank would have needed the two months the buyer owed, plus prorations to pay the property tax bill that is due in November (which is the entire amount). So the $3,000 amount would not be that abnormal out here. It just depends on when the transaction closes in relation to when property taxes are due.
There are some agents that act as loan officers, and I personally don't think that is a good idea. The question is whether or not the buyer understood that this was the case.
Why don't you ask her to sign a release to the attorney that she used? He can explain the process to you.
To have a lender that also functions as the agent could be considered a conflict of interest in some ways. From my experience in dealing with those people they have proven to either be slime balls or a jack of trades but far from a master of any trade (probably the more common of the 2). It sounds as if he's a lender first and an agent second so he probably used his office number for his lending practice. If the buyer was uncomfortable they should have hired someone different or at least shopped around (which I doubt they did).
My only suggestion is don't jump to conclusions. If you have questions about this guy call and talk to him. Stick to the facts. Talk to local agents/attorneys/lenders about the process because they'll be more knowledgable about local practices.
Talk to an attorney. She has been taken advantage of. An individual who has reason to believe the people he is dealing with are professionals and are acting on his behalf, without any real knowledge or experience of the profession has the right to rely on those professionals. If they end up falsifying or being sloppy in their work, then they shoulder at least a substantial part of the responsibility for the results. In this case the results were foreclosure. If the loan package were audited by an independent auditor and the appraisal reviewed by an independent review appraiser, I would be willing to be there would be substantial collusion between the professionals to take advantage of the individual. If it rose to the level of fraud, damages could be treble plus pain and suffering........I bet the bank would come close to giving her the house to keep this out of court.
Talk to an attorney. She has been taken advantage of.
That's the jumping to conclusions I spoke of. She may very well have been taken advantage of but we don't know that for a fact. She may not of been taken advantage of. The benefit of separate lenders/agents/attorneys are the checks and balances.
Silverfall, I'm not sure what you mean by Texas is an attorney state. The title company has attorneys, yes, but for normal transactions, neither seller nor buyer have their own attorneys.
That being said, I do think that the buyer might want to have an attorney review things. There could be a problem, or there could not be, and this would be one way to find out. But Silverfall is correct in that the title company won't discuss the transaction with you unless you're one of the parties to it.
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what about taxes?
