All Forum Posts by: Tom Gimer

First and best option, get a specific power of attorney prepared by title/attorney and pre-approved by lender. 

Second option would be to sign personally while out of the country.  Depending on where you'll be you may not have access to a notary. If so, the process requires an additional authentication. This of course is all happening while the lender wants the original, signed Note in its hands immediately. Add several days (or hundreds of dollars, or both) to get the loan package back to title. Nobody is happy -- funds may not disburse until this is all complete. With Realtors involved this gets to be even more fun. ;)

The "legal owner" was the owner of record... the one shown in the land records... the one you contracted with.

I would stop talking and let buyer, seller and title company sort it out. Any claim would seem to be against the "seller".

Read your contract closely, with a real estate attorney if necessary. 

Did you have any inspection or due diligence rights? 

What specifically did the contract say about the deposit and how it could be forfeited or released?

Most people aren’t going to fight it out in court over $1000... especially if they have failed to follow contract terms. Sometimes all it takes is a demand letter. 

You’ll only need a lawyer if they actually file suit. 

No reasonable attorney would file suit based on the facts you’ve provided. (There has been no suggestion that you failed to disclose latent defects.)

This is a bigger problem for the buyer’s broker. If the property wasn’t acceptable at the walk through, they should not have closed. 

Sounds like somebody just wanted their commission. 

Your tenants will be the youngsters and their child. Your guarantors will be the parents. Good luck.

@Wayne Brooks If wholesaler contracted with the owner of record, who later turns out to have obtained title illegally, it's not so cut and dry.

And further, had the title company followed the (claimed) contract terms and done back to back closings, wholesaler might have title insurance (and counsel) to protect him here.

@Al Pekerman You are right. That is a nightmare. Sorry. Time to hire an attorney.

This is most certainly NOT the title company's responsibility.  It is your responsibility to properly address the insurance proceeds issue in your sales contract.  Consult with/retain a local real estate attorney.

Your question focused on the right entity choice based upon the number of business partners, presumably in a real estate investment business. You got answers concerning tax classification. LLCs are great for real estate investment because they — more than any other entity type — allow for real creativity in management and ownership structure. Partner 1 can put in money and time, partner 2 can put in time and knowledge, partner 3 can put in IT, partner 4 can put in a valuable existing relationship, and so forth... and they can all agree in advance as to management, ownership percentage, voting rights and so forth. Not so easy with many other entity types. If they agree in advance as to the value of what each brings to the table, 7 partners can easily afford to pay an attorney to set an LLC up properly, including its tax classification.

One of the most important responsibilities of the title company is to identify the actual property owner(s) as well as who is/are authorized to execute the deed and other settlement docs. Sounds like somebody on the title side screwed up royally here. Were you dealing with the PR of an estate? Agent of a company? More details please.

I would never use the seller’s title company. That’s a bad reason to have your choice forced upon you. It’s incredibly important for the person/company who conducts the title search to be thorough, accurate and experienced. Unfortunately the industry is full of unqualified people. I would want my own title company — along with the vendors they continuously put their faith in — conducting all aspects of my transaction.