All Forum Posts by: Jackie Lange

My lien was still in first position.  The title company closing the transaction and title insurance company who issued title insurance screwed up big time.   Luckily, it finally worked out!

Three years later, I finally got paid. 

When the title company completely ignored my recorded deed of trust, I did not get paid off at closing on a property I had sold with seller financing.  The title company would not tell me who issued title insurance.  I hired two different lawyers to try to resolve the problem but they were more interested in dragging it out as long as possible so I would keep paying them. Finally I decided to just wait it out knowing that eventually the couple who bought the house would want to sell and they would have a title problem. A few months ago I was contacted by the title insurance company, we came to an agreement and I got paid last week.  

I'm helping a friend sell it.  It is a fantastic deal.  

The economy is Panama is booming!  Panama was named the #1 place to retire in the International Living Annual Global Index Report so retirees and entrepreneurs are flocking to Panama. 

There is a big need for more rentals.

This house is only $118,000 which qualifies you to NEVER have any property taxes under Panama law. Improves your ROI!

There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, a maid’s quarters downstairs with a full bath, and a covered carport. A large water holding tank and pump are there, for a back-up water source. A new hot water heater was installed, providing hot water to the entire home. The house has been painted inside and out, including the roof. There are new light fixtures and ceiling fans installed in every room. The kitchen counters have brand new custom tile and back-splash and new sink and faucet. Both bathrooms have new tile on counters and showers, and a granite counter-top in one bath. There are park-like views from every window. Beautiful, solid hardwood, floors throughout and constructed of old growth redwood imported from the United States. This home was one of the first to be built in the Las Palmas subdivision, around 1930. It is fully TITLED!

Conveniently located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, with a large fenced yard and assortment of mature fruit trees. There are several varieties of avocado, citrus, pineapple, plantains and bananas. Even exotic dragon-fruit! The property also has many tropical flowers. There is a small, completely enclosed, chicken coop that the previous owner had and water faucets throughout. At the back of the property is it’s own private gate to the entrance of Las Palmas and the public swimming pool.

This is a home that feels like it is in the country, yet it is a short 10 minute walk to downtown Puerto Armuelles or a 5 minute drive to the Pacific Ocean beaches.  

Las Palmas was once the gated community that house the executives for Chiquita Banana Company. The neighborhood has larger homes and yards, in a North American style, and neighbors walk their dogs or are seen jogging in the mornings. There is an assortment of retirees and families, about half expats and half Panamanians, that make living here a good mixture.

BONUS: The price of UNDER $120,000 means that there will be NO property taxes.. ever!

Mr OR Ms??

Remember that house I sold with seller financing then the buyers asked me to switch to a Warranty Deed in just the “daughter” name so she could refinance. But instead of refinancing her plan all along was to sell the house. Some how, she convinced the Title company that my recorded Lien with the property as collateral was really a personal loan and she would just pay it outside of closing. But she took off with my money and never had any intentions of paying me.

To make a long story shorter, I filed a law suit to get my money or get the house back. Both the person I sold to, the title company, and the new buyers are named in the lawsuit.

The process server has been trying to serve the lady i sold to but there is only a guy at the property and he says she is not there. The process server has been back many times and even waited overnight.

Yesterday I got a report from my attorney that they would have to file some other kind of document since the lady I sold to cannot be found. In the report from the process server, they listed the phone number for the lady and said they have called her several times but she just hangs up on them.

I did a google search for the number to see what else I could find out. ( do lawyers do this?) What I discovered is that the lady is really a GUY and offers SHEMALE escort services. I won’t go in to details about what other stuff and photos I saw and explicit descriptions…

So, when you are involved in a lawsuit, perhaps it is a good idea to say mr. and/or ms – just to cover all the bases.

As real estate investors we run across some STRANGE stuff – but this is just about the weirdest thing that has ever happened.

For a long time I have had the domain name Every House Tells a Story with the intentions of writing a book about the stories and strange things I have discovered doing real estate investing.

Eventually I will get my money and/or the house.

Of course I have talked to the title company.  They said I need to call the seller (my buyer) because signed a statement that she would pay me...(without my permission of knowledge).  Their stance is that it is not their responsibility to pay me because the seller said she would.  But the seller (my buyer) is MIA and does not reply to phone calls or emails.  

The only way to get this resolved was to get lawyers involved unfortunately.

The seller is MIA.  The attorney I hired is getting a private investigator involved to track her down.  

Official certified (and regular mail) foreclosure notices have been sent to everyone involved in this mess.  It's a 3 step process in Texas.  

And a demand letter was sent to the title company.

Update:  The title company acknowledged that they saw my lien prior to closing.  They said the seller (my buyer) signed a statement that she would pay off the lien outside of closing. (of course, she had no intention of paying anything and thinks she got away with my money). 

What??  I can't believe that they would even allow this.  

The title company never contacted me to ask it that was ok with me ( the lien holder). They never asked me for a payoff statement.  

This is just insane!

Meanwhile, the new buyers likely got a Title Policy that says there are no other liens which is not accurate.  

I've sold hundreds of houses with seller financing and never had this happen before.  So, just because this happened to me do not be afraid to sell houses with seller financing.  It will eventually get fixed - it just takes time and money to resolve the problem.  

When the property was sold, the seller (my buyer), had a listing agent and the buyer had an agent involved.  They have both been made aware of the situation and neither wants to do a darn thing about it.  The buyer's agent does not even want to tell his clients about the mess. 

When I sold the house, 10 years ago, I used an attorney at a title company to represent me.  

The screw up in this whole mess is the title company.