Spooky Title Company Performance
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:43 pm
It wasn't long after I put down that article in this summer's California Surveyor about the Land Surveyor and the Preliminary Report, by Joe Kooyers, PLS, that I glanced over a Preliminary Report looking for any easements I may have missed while doing my own chain. What I saw left me feeling a bit un-nerved.
A certain client had recently purchased a small lot in a retirement manufactured home subdivision that had substantial encroachments on all sides. So they went to all neighbors and got everything cleared up and recorded.
I was later hired and looking at three instruments, one being the vesting deed for the original subdivision lot, the second being a conveyance to them from one neighbor, and the third being a conveyance to them from another neighbor, all occurring over a period of about a month. The legals were written up by an old RCE living in the subdivision, stamped, and fairly clear. Everything was fine, we were contracted to set their corners.
I called the client up for a copy of their title report so we could cross check some things before filing a map. I also suggested to the client that perhaps they should consult the title company to discuss consolidating all three instruments into one comprehensive legal description, I just didn't like looking at three separate instruments to describe their land. They informed me that the title company advised them that all was fine.
I got busy with other work and left it alone for awhile.
About a month later I got a call from their lender asking why the hell was the client's title report showing two separate parcels, with two separate APNs. They can't lend on two separate parcels. (The deeds I had used left no confusion about APNs) I said "funny you should ask that! Not only did they list two APNs, but they left out one of the new conveyances! They actually have three parcels! And I have no idea why they list multiple APNs! It's the Assessor's job to assign APNs." I got silence on the other end of the phone followed by a bellowing "Ugh!" followed by "I've been having trouble with this title company throughout this whole process" followed by "thanks for clearing this up for me".
Over the last couple years I've been getting less and less patient with title companies calling me back, but this?
What are people medicating on these days?
A certain client had recently purchased a small lot in a retirement manufactured home subdivision that had substantial encroachments on all sides. So they went to all neighbors and got everything cleared up and recorded.
I was later hired and looking at three instruments, one being the vesting deed for the original subdivision lot, the second being a conveyance to them from one neighbor, and the third being a conveyance to them from another neighbor, all occurring over a period of about a month. The legals were written up by an old RCE living in the subdivision, stamped, and fairly clear. Everything was fine, we were contracted to set their corners.
I called the client up for a copy of their title report so we could cross check some things before filing a map. I also suggested to the client that perhaps they should consult the title company to discuss consolidating all three instruments into one comprehensive legal description, I just didn't like looking at three separate instruments to describe their land. They informed me that the title company advised them that all was fine.
I got busy with other work and left it alone for awhile.
About a month later I got a call from their lender asking why the hell was the client's title report showing two separate parcels, with two separate APNs. They can't lend on two separate parcels. (The deeds I had used left no confusion about APNs) I said "funny you should ask that! Not only did they list two APNs, but they left out one of the new conveyances! They actually have three parcels! And I have no idea why they list multiple APNs! It's the Assessor's job to assign APNs." I got silence on the other end of the phone followed by a bellowing "Ugh!" followed by "I've been having trouble with this title company throughout this whole process" followed by "thanks for clearing this up for me".
Over the last couple years I've been getting less and less patient with title companies calling me back, but this?
What are people medicating on these days?