Expert: liznarr - 2/26/2011

Question
Hello, we r buying a bank owned home. Closing is set for Monday. About 10 days ago, i asked a question to title company lady that if she is related to this man who his name was in HOA covenants. She ignored me with a twisted answer. I got suspicious and asked again. She did not answer me for a while. I asked again and she said "yes, Robert is my husband but has nothing to do with this transaction". So i asked her again same question and said "well, his name is in HOA covenants, is he HOA member or anything to do with this subdivision or" She ignored me a few more times and gave me phone number for HOA to ask any questions I have. But i kept asking her why her husbands name is in HOA covenants and just a few hours ago she dropped the bomb and said that "yes, my husband is in HOA and HOA member, he is also one of the 3 subdivision builders". Well, after her honest answer after 10 days and after our four e-mails made us suspicious about this title company because we wonder why did not she disclose this relationship in the beginning to us and when we asked, she answered us with twisted answers and she finally answered us after so many times we asked and finally she answered us just the weekend before the closing. We do not feel good with them and would like to close this transaction with different title company but do we have a chance to do it right two days before the closing specially it is weekend? If we dont close with this title company, can they still charge us? Thank you.
PS: We also asked her a question about the survey charge and her answer was "you signed for it, you responsible for it!" which we felt so rude answer. Thank you for the help.

Answer
Hi Hakan,

I apologize profusely for the lateness of this response.  The All Experts system just notified me that I have two pending questions unanswered, and I do not have a record of having received either of them, one of which was yours.

I see on the All Experts system that your message was sent 2-26-11, and your closing date has probably since passed.  If your situation is not taken care of, please write me again and I will try to help you address anything not resolved yet, even if it is to advise you to seek legal advice.

The long and short of the real estate business, however, is that LICENSED AGENTS are required (at least in my state) to disclose close family/business relationships of persons involved in the transaction (ESPECIALLY family relationships such as a spouse).  Most real estate laws of different states require this, but I’m not sure if a TITLE COMPANY would fall under the same rules/laws that licensed agents do.  If you had an agent representing you, and the agent knew this, then the agent would have had an obligation (I would think) to disclose this to you.  A call to your state’s real estate commission might give you this answer, since the title company is a link in the chain of a real estate transaction.

From an ethical standpoint, I would certainly think anyone would want to disclose this information as a matter of fact to prevent the appearance of any impropriety.  If your state’s real estate commission cannot answer this for you, you can call an attorney and ask the question how this would apply to a title company; or you might call your State Insurance Department.

Don’t know if I was any help to you due to my late response, but I do hope you have your situation resolved all right.  Again, I am sorry I never received your original question in order to give you a timely answer.

Good luck to you, and feel free to write again if you have additional questions.  

Regards,
Elizabeth