Buying a house- should I be worried or do these things come together last min?

Question

Thank you M.

We have reached out to seller's foreclosure attorney regularly but not new update. We've requested they contact the underwriter to issue an indem so that we may proceed with the sale, or provide us with a time frame as to clearance of this title defect but nothing as of yet.

F

I am suppose to close on Sept 24th- this was the push back date. We missed our first date which was last month. This letter is from the bank lawyer after my agent requested an update on the title getting cleared. I am not sure what her "wording" means 100%- I keep rereading it. Any advice or just sit and wait?

Answer 1

the greatest amount of incompetence occurs when competence is required most.

this explains the silence and absence of breath at many closings.

Answer 2

Your posting is very unclear.

Yes, frequently these closings come together at the last minute.  But, whatever you do, do NOT just sit back and wait.  You need to follow up with all the parties involved, at least twice weekly.  Title policy and your mortgage commitment may require updating, extentions due to later closing date.  Find out if everything is set, what is needed/missing, what they're waiting for.  Make calls to everyone and try to facilitate process.  Speak with your lender, your attorney, your realtor, title company.

Apparently there is some title defect needing to be cleared prior to closing.  Banks holding foreclosed homes can be notoriously slow and inefficient in closing sale of property even though it's not in their best interest.

Answer 3

Welcome to the world of buying foreclosures.

The bank is not going to permit you to close on a home that does not have clear title and the foreclosure attorney isn't going to clear the title just b/c you ask for it to meet a closing date--I'll be honest, they don't care about closing dates.

It would have been helpful if you posted the contents of the letter.

PS:  YOUR bank doesn't have the authority to "issue" clear title....as suggested by another poster.  Either the title is clear or it isn't and the trustee assigned by the lienholder is the only person with the authority to clear it.

Answer 4

Your bank or the foreclosing bank is updating the preliminary title policy to see if any new loans or liens have showed up.  They are insuring clear transfer of title.

This shouldn't take more than a business day.

Answer 5

Are you sure “indem” shouldn’t be addendum?

It’s hard to say what this means without the context of the situation. Is your buyer’s agent unable to elaborate on this?

Answer 6

.   Lots of problems buying repossessed houses.  Sometimes you just can not buy it.  Not now.  Don't be blinded by wishful thinking.  Recently one bank could not complete the sale because they did not "own" the loan when they did the foreclosure.  The loan had been split in 10 parts and sold to 6 different banks.  After several months, another bank agreed to "own" the loan by buying all the other portions from the other banks.  So we had to start over from scratch with the "new" owner.  All the rest of the time had been wasted.  Now the new owner has 4 other offers on the house.  We are number 5.