Why Did You Wait So Long To Call Me?

Why Did You Wait So Long To Call Me?

I always tell my clients that I am here to help. I am here to make their transactions easy. I am here to help relieve stress and pressure. I am here to answer questions. It is a familiar refrain. So why do clients wait until it is almost too late, if not actually too late, to call when they need help?

Just the other day, a friend stopped me and asked me if she needed a title search for the new house she was buying and closing on in a few days. I had done a closing for her several years before and she had referred other people to me, so she knew how I practice. My eyes grew very wide as I told her “of course you need a title search and title insurance”. “Will it take long? Will it cost much” she asked. After a lengthy discussion, my friend e-mailed her contract to me so that I could jump in and handle the closing for her.

What I learned what that, because the house was in Martin County, the seller was to provide the title and had selected the title company. The title commitment had already been issued but because my new client had no attorney, the title company didn’t bother to send it to anyone. When we called to ask for the commitment and copies of the closing documents, we set off all kinds of alarms. The client’s real estate agent became defensive. She said that the title company was handling title and we weren’t needed. Perhaps we had been hired to handle the sale of the client’s house. UH OH! I thought we were working with another real estate agent who doesn’t want to work with the client’s attorney. What is she hiding? Likewise, the title company was uncooperative. Once they knew that we were involved, they should have automatically sent us everything. However, we had to ask for every piece of paper, document by document, page by page.

At this point, it occurred to me that I needed to write this post. I’ve written about the need for real estate attorneys for residential closings before (see post HERE). Obviously, this closing is another example of that need. Your agent should protect you, but an agent is not an attorney and some agents, to this day, believe that attorneys only screw up deals. Good agents don’t think that way. If an agent steers you away from an attorney, you have a bad agent. Relying solely on a title company is also a bad idea. Title companies close title. They are responsible to follow bank instructions and escrow instructions only. They are responsible to the underwriter. If you don’t have an attorney, you likely aren’t providing sufficient instructions to the title company and therefore, aren’t getting adequate protections.

But this post isn’t just about using an attorney. It’s about answering the question, when should you call your attorney. Answer: not 10 days before closing! Here, we were able to clean up messes and prevent the client from accepting title with improper and unacceptable title exceptions. However, we did not have enough time to obtain a survey. The real estate agent told her she didn’t need once since she wasn’t getting a loan.

Certainly, don’t wait until 3 days before closing. This same client got totally freaked out when the closing agent for the sale of her house contacted her real estate agent (a different one) to ask where the closing documents were. The closing agent also scheduled closing for 2:00 in the afternoon. The purchase of the new house was scheduled for 3:30 the same day. Funds from the sale were needed for the purchase. No one told the client how she was to provide the closing documents, how she was to get from Broward to Martin County in an hour with the closing funds or how all this was to work. She was a wreck. I now had 3 days to work it out with the buyer’s closing agent, do the documents, solve any title issues and coordinate 2 closings instead of 1. Both contracts had been signed 7 or 8 weeks prior.

And, finally, 2 days before closing is definitely not enough! My partner, Eric Assouline was with his client 2 weeks ago at a summary judgment hearing. After the hearing, the client casually mentioned that he was closing on an “investment property” in 2 days and needed to “protect” that property in case they lost in the litigation. Eric came back to the office to discuss with me. I asked Eric why we were just hearing of this now. Eric shrugged. Had the client talked to us at the time he signed the contract, we could have devised asset protection strategies and properly closed on the property. 48 hours prior to closing? The client had to proceed.

Like I said, I am here to help. But don’t wait to call. Don’t wait until the last minute!