Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/22/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company neglected to do their job by preforming an actual title search when selling our home. We provided them all the information they requested and even told them we had a Covid Forbearance for 15 months that was filed as a contract and was a separate lien. This company failed to do the title search which would have revealed the 2nd lien and only spoke with our mortgage company. This company gave false information to my husband and myself stating that all liens on the home were paid at the time of the sale. Almost a year later, we received a letter from HUD, who held the 2nd lien, stating that it was never paid and is delinquint. It is now reported on our credit which could cost me a job opportunity and we are having to make monthly payments toward this loan as the title company states its our debt and we should pay it. They claim no responsibility for being paid to do a job they did not do and are refusing to help in any way. They charged for doing a lien search but clearly never searched for any liens as the Lending agency was able to pull up the lien in her system by doing a simple search. The location we worked with is Sw Huntsville AL and we worked with ***** ****** but the home office in TN. was all that was listed.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/31/2023

  We have already assisted this customer in resolving her dispute with her lender. Unfortunately, her lender took the highly irregular action of seeking additional funds to payoff her debts after a closing,  

  Our company conduct real estate closings, which includes the processing of payoffs for sellers, such as this complainant. She was forthcoming about her mortgage modification and we were aware of it from the title search we performed. Her accusation that we did not do a search is false. We do a search on all real estate closings. The difficulty with processing payoffs is that we must rely on the seller and their lenders for accurate information. We do not have a crystal ball to tell us what sellers owe their lenders- we must rely on what they tell us. Modifications for Covid-forbearances are not consistently processed by all lenders. Sometimes we received two payoffs; sometimes one combined payoff.

  Here, we received a single payoff letter. To be certain that it was correct, our office took two additional steps to verify its accuracy. First, we re-verified with the payoff lender, who indicated that the payoff was for the full amount and included the second mortgage/forbearance modification. Second, we asked the customer to verify it at closing. It turns out that the lender gave us bad information and the customer, who now complains the figure was inaccurate, certified that the figures were correct. The accusation that we "gave false information ...stating that all liens on the home were paid..." is obviously misplaced. We relied on her representations that the title was clear. She was in the best position to know how much she owes her lender. She told us the figures were accurate. By certifying that the lower payoff was correct, she left the closing with about ******* in additional proceeds. That is what her lender now wants her to pay back. 

  We have provided all this information to the customer many months ago. It is an unfortunate circumstance that her lender gave an incorrect figure to us. She should not have certified the lower payoff was correct. In any event, that debt is between the customer and her lender. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/02/2024

  
  
  ********** ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The lawyer and the title office we worked with provided almost no communication/updates on what was needed as far as information for our payoff. We do not have access to that information the way this response is suggesting and are subsequently submitting the same complaint against the Lender, however, we requested proof of what the lender provided to the title company as pay off and were told there were no records other than an excel spreadsheet that was completed by an employee of the title company who was no longer employeed. We have requested this information as proof that the lending company falisifed information so that we may appropiately request assistance. 

  The bottom line is that all information requested was provided and it is not the home buyers job to read the minds of the title company employees to know what meeds to be paid. We were not told by our lending company that a COVID forbearance was separate from the mortgage and the contract specifically states the lenders name, not another lein holder. We do not have access to search for liens in a system so as home owners, we paid someone else to handle that and trusted that they would do things correctly. We were not told at closing, any information about the forbearance being added to or separate from the information provided. It seems that this company did a wonderful job of rushing us through the process (because they had other appointments) without providing much information. I did question the closing cost and asked if everything was included based on the information on the form that I previously provided (shows Lien 2 with no pay off amount) and the Lawyer we worked with stated that all was included. We signed the forms under the belief that all payments were included based off the professional information we were provided.

  Again, if this company really believed that they were not at fault, they would have done a better job of providing the information they say they received from the lending company. Their response is placing all the responsibility and blame on home owners which makes me wonder, if homeowners are responsible for knowing our pay off amounts, all liens and all other information about our loans, then why are we paying title companies at all? They have insurance to cover their mistakes. As they are placing the blame on my family while we are struggling to pay for THEIR mistake, they must take the blame for not following up and ensuring the information they received from our lender was correct. They never reached out or followed up with us to ensure the information they received was accurate, they just assumed it was and provided no clarification at closing when asked! It was simply stated that all costs were included when I specifically asked about the closing total. I am not one to sit quietly and not ask questions and I resent the implication that I knowingly signed off on an approval of costs without asking what they included. I also resent the fact that this company has been unwilling to help or communicate about this issue, as well as the Listing Agency that referred us to this company, outside of ,"the responsibility is the homeowners" Companies have insurance coverages that we pay for to help in these instances. Yes, it was our debt and that is understood, however, we paid your company to make sure all debts were paid at closing and you failed to do that and throw blame on the lender without offering proof. Yes, we had the money to pay this debt at the time of closing, however, we were not contacted until October 21, 2023 by HUD that the debt was still owed. Because we paid so much down on this house from our closing costs and paid off other debts and for things we needed for our new home (as all people do) we do not have the ******* for this debt. Because of this  we are having to work more jobs to have the income to cover the monthly cost of this debt and it has now been placed on my credit, which could negativly impact my family costing us loans, jobs, etc. All I asked for the mistake on the companies part was assistance in paying a portion of the debt due to their neglect and false information provided at closing. They have refused any and all communication with us any further and have never even considered talking to us about helping, they only insist it was my families fault that we couldn't do their job after they provided inaccurate information when questioned.

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *****