Title Company Prospecting my sellers?

Cathy McAlister August 22, 2009 at 3:06pm

Ok I'm going to chime in on this. Please undertand that I come from a title background of 27 years and was very involved at the state and national level. I have been out of the business for 5 years - but still have my contacts.

In the short sale business - I think many of us would agree that the short sale business is NOT for the faint of heart and the non-committed. So that would NOT be any of us. But... there are many short sales being handled by agents who do nothing more than check with colleagues and research on websites - and quite frankly, may be trying to wing it a little too much.

The major title companies (in California they do escrow too), have some (NOT ALL) staff that are clearly capable of understanding the short sale process AND would be well suited to provided short sale negotiation services to the non-short agent. Frankly, I think some sellers could be well served by this.

Some companies have started divisions to begin providing this service. One of the major companies is considering adding it the escrow officer's desk. That would be a BAD idea. My contacts here in California have asked my input on occasion and I provided them with some ideas on how to appraoch this issue. I believe there is a way they can do this effectively and provide a valuable service to the agents who are not nor want to be proficient at short sales. There is plenty of market to go around for the next two years and they can just be another avenue for digging out of this big hole.

Now, as to soliciting your clients - WOW - Dead wrong!!!. That should be nipped in the bud immediately. As to fees, All of them have been increasing their rates nationwide in general. It had been a long time since they had done so. Short sales do require much more work on their part. Recently, we have a transaction with two lenders , double huds and an AC with repairs that failed two days prior to close of escrow. I have probably burdened that officer with 15 requests.

In the short run, get hold of that company and ask them directly about the situation and their intentions. They very well could be starting a program and handled it horribly by not working through the listing agent. We need to clue them in that there is a segment of the Realtor community who handles these regularly, efficiently and effectively.

MeLisa Minter August 22, 2009 at 9:25am

That's awful. I wished you could have moved the file before you closed.

Eric M. Boyd August 16, 2009 at 5:12pm

Stephanie,

Can you share the name of the title co.? I'm in Jax, too.

Stephanie Lim August 14, 2009 at 10:43am

The title insurance is here too...what they are making more on is the "Settlement Fee". It is more than double ($850 vs $350) what we usually pay the settlement attorney on our short sales and this one, to my knowledge, does not have an attorney. They are also charging more on the lender's title insurance (simultaneous issue) fee than we usually see and there are a couple of junk fees. The most disturbing thing to me is the manner that I have witnessed them conducting business. They create problems so they can "solve" them.

Oh and they have such incredible "relationships" with negotiators everywhere...

Jack Fleming said:

Wow! Look under any rock and you'll find people like that. My company (Weichert) owns a title and settlement company. In PA title fees are state regulated.

Wendy Rulnick August 14, 2009 at 10:40am

OHH might be yeah!! Anti-fraud law

Stephanie Lim said:

I'm over here in Jacksonville... Hmmmm is THAT a foreclosure rescue related activities?

Wendy Rulnick said:
Stephanie, Sounds like desparation and money grabbing.... Maybe your state has a law against what they are doing, some regulation.
Stephanie Lim said:
Thanks for your feedback,,,I didn't know if I was being unreasonably sensitive about it. I have my own title company that I use, who is an attorney's office. They close all of my deals for sellers. And they service after the sale when there are issues that come up. Seems like this behavior is interfering with both the sales contract AND my listing agreement.

Coincidentally it's the same title company that has caused tons of trouble in this FHA short sale I've been complaining about (finally at closing as we speak!). We've caught their "short sale specialist" in quite a few "stories" and she doesn't even know the difference between FHA and Fannie.

Predators are everywhere aren't they?

Jack Fleming August 14, 2009 at 10:18am

Wow! Look under any rock and you'll find people like that. My company (Weichert) owns a title and settlement company. In PA title fees are state regulated.

Stephanie Lim August 14, 2009 at 9:08am

I'm over here in Jacksonville... Hmmmm is THAT a foreclosure rescue related activities?

Wendy Rulnick said:

Stephanie, Sounds like desparation and money grabbing.... Maybe your state has a law against what they are doing, some regulation.
Stephanie Lim said:
Thanks for your feedback,,,I didn't know if I was being unreasonably sensitive about it. I have my own title company that I use, who is an attorney's office. They close all of my deals for sellers. And they service after the sale when there are issues that come up. Seems like this behavior is interfering with both the sales contract AND my listing agreement.

Coincidentally it's the same title company that has caused tons of trouble in this FHA short sale I've been complaining about (finally at closing as we speak!). We've caught their "short sale specialist" in quite a few "stories" and she doesn't even know the difference between FHA and Fannie.

Predators are everywhere aren't they?

Wendy Rulnick August 14, 2009 at 8:25am

Stephanie, Sounds like desparation and money grabbing.... Maybe your state has a law against what they are doing, some regulation.

Stephanie Lim said:

Thanks for your feedback,,,I didn't know if I was being unreasonably sensitive about it. I have my own title company that I use, who is an attorney's office. They close all of my deals for sellers. And they service after the sale when there are issues that come up. Seems like this behavior is interfering with both the sales contract AND my listing agreement.

Coincidentally it's the same title company that has caused tons of trouble in this FHA short sale I've been complaining about (finally at closing as we speak!). We've caught their "short sale specialist" in quite a few "stories" and she doesn't even know the difference between FHA and Fannie.

Predators are everywhere aren't they?

Stephanie Lim August 14, 2009 at 8:02am

Thanks for your feedback,,,I didn't know if I was being unreasonably sensitive about it. I have my own title company that I use, who is an attorney's office. They close all of my deals for sellers. And they service after the sale when there are issues that come up. Seems like this behavior is interfering with both the sales contract AND my listing agreement.

Coincidentally it's the same title company that has caused tons of trouble in this FHA short sale I've been complaining about (finally at closing as we speak!). We've caught their "short sale specialist" in quite a few "stories" and she doesn't even know the difference between FHA and Fannie.

Predators are everywhere aren't they?

Wendy Rulnick August 14, 2009 at 7:54am

Stephanie - The only thing I've had is a title agent trying to charge a $2000 settlement fee saying they would "negotiate". I would be pretty mad if I were you.

Forum

Title Company Prospecting my sellers?

Replies