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Fishing with Nobility – Catch AND Release!

What good is it if a lender claims to have the “highest customer satisfaction ratings” if the customer service surveys they use are all obtained immediately after closing?

Sure, it was so simple to close with X, Y, Z lender, so few documents!  they even sent a notary to my house to show me where to sign!

But then . . . months or years later when you attempt to sell your home you find that X, Y, Z lender Caught your Business but didn’t Release your old mortgage!    WHETHER YOU ARE BUYING REAL ESTATE OR REFINANCING IT, YOUR SETTLEMENT AGENT HAS A DUTY TO MAKE SURE OLD LIENS ARE CLEARED FROM YOUR TITLE!  THEY ACTUALLY CHARGE YOU FOR THAT SERVICE AND UNFORTUNATELY YOU DON’T DISCOVER THEIR LAPSES UNTIL MUCH LATER.

This problem is compounded if your LENDER IS YOUR SETTLEMENT AGENT!   It is further exasperated if your lender is in Cleveland or Detroit and you don’t want to drive that far away to “get in their face”.  

There are times in life when it behooves you to ask “Why?”   Why are you (my lender) paying all my closing costs?  What kind of follow up will there be after the closing is recorded and my funds disbursed?    Will I be able to find you to get a clear title later?

While it is true that the Code of Virginia gives you a club to use on the lender who is paid off and fails to release their deed of trust lien, that statute is very mild and watered down in Virginia compared to other states.   Our statute provides about a third of the relief set forth in the attached article on the perils of unreleased liens.

That is part of why we are big fans of using lenders, realtors, and settlement agents who have a local presence whenever possible and who are independent of one another and each have a duty of care to you the consumer!

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