Warning: Hubzu, Premium Title, and Altisource

[Ron Burmeister]

Just wanting to warn everyone about possible issues with using the provided title services associated with a Hubzu auction property.

This is what happened to me on a recent transaction on a fix and flip property that I bought in Northern Kentucky just outside Cincinnati.

Hubzu’s contract states, basically, that if the buyer uses their designated title agency (Premium Title / Altisource) for title work and closing then the seller will pay the closing fees and owners title policy. This could save the buyer around $800 to $1200 depending on the purchase price. Kind of enticing and that is what I did in a recent transaction.

The issues began at closing:

The closing agent was a notary with very little knowledge of the paper work required. Basically it is Sign-Here-What-Is- It-I-Have-No-Idea type of situation. The closing agent noticed that the seller’s attorney-in-fact had signed the deed where I, the buyer, should sign. This caused a 2 hour delay in closing while we waited for the new deed.

80 days later - I now have a contract to purchase and will close in a couple weeks. I happen to check to ensure the deed has been recorded and to my amazement it was not. I immediately sent an email to Altisource notifying them of the issue. They replied and said they were assigning a complaint with someone at Premium Title, the closing agency.

A week went by without hearing a word from Premium. There is only an 800 number for Premium which connects you with their call center in India. After going through their voice prompt system I finally was able to establish communication with someone.  All they do is act as a go between with the people that do the work at Premium Title in Atlanta. You can never speak with a person that knows and understands the issue.  After many days, phone calls and emails they finally send the deed for recording.

In the mean time I get a call from my buyer’s title company informing me that there is a mortgage against the property that has not been released and that we cannot close unless this is cleared. Here we go again, back to the phone. As stated, you are dealing with a call center in India. They do not know the difference between a deed and a release of mortgage. They promise that the matter is being taken care but there is a back log in the recording department.

A back log? They sent me a copy of the release of mortgage which was dated March 2015! They have had the document from March and now it is September and it is not recorded! And to top this off they allowed me to close with the open mortgage!

Again, no sense of urgency on their part. I begin demanding contact information for someone in the recording department. They cannot give that out. I demand to speak with their manager, “He is out of the office”, “what about their manager?”, “We will have him call you”, never happened.

Remember the complaint that Altisource filed? They finally send me an email wanting to help. I call and get a call center representative in India again and he is clueless about the situation. After multiple phone calls, emails and broken promises of returned calls I finally get an email notice, with a tracking number, that the release of mortgage has been sent for recording.

The after days of waiting and checking, the release is never recorded. I call the court house to find out what is going on. They only know that they do not have it. If it was not recordable then they just put it in an envelope and snail mail it back to the sender. Later find out that Premium Title did not send the proper fee.

Here we go again, back to India. No one can give me an answer to what is going on or allow me to speak with anyone in the department that understands the situation. After days of intense phone calls they finally give me an email and phone numbers for a Vice President and 2 managers at Premium Title in Atlanta. I left voice mails with all and no returned calls. Even though one of the voice mails promises a return call in 2 business hours.

After numerous voice mails and emails I finally get an email response from one of them and all they say is that they are looking into it. Days of waiting, emails, unanswered voice mails and calls to India I finally get an email that states they have a new release and will be sending it for recording.

It was finally recorded and we closed.

Bottom line: It is enticing to save a couple hundred dollars, but you have no representation on title issues.When all goes well, as a previous transaction did, there is no problem. But when there is a problem you are not their customer and they have very tall walls that you cannot get through.

What did I learn: Until the deed is recorded there is nothing that prevents someone from recording a lien on the property against the previous owner and your owner's title policy may not (probably will not) cover it.

I will use my own title company in the future.

[Don Henderson]

I am trying to close on a hubzu auction property now. The altisource people assigned to help close the deal have been nothing but clueless and incompetent. I do not know if this is because they have little real estate experience or if they are all foreigners and do not understand US property law and trust law basics. As an attorney by day, I knew better than to use their preferred title company that shares ownership with hubzu and altisource. I have been repeatedly requesting documentation to paper up this transaction showing altisource has the power and authority to act on behalf of the trust that owns the property with little success.

Seller is now 6 days in breach of contract and claiming they have no paperwork to provide us (even though they have claimed this before) although I know for a fact documentation exists as they have provided another trust instrument. Unfortunately the trust instrument provided was for a different but related trust. No legitimate title company in Texas would provide title insurance under present conditions.

Borderline ready to sue hubzu usa, inc. (delaware company), arns, inc. (texas company) and altisource (luxembourg company) for various types of fraud and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.