# Newsflash: Really huge company bounces check, somehow it affects me **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-really-huge-company-bounces-check-somehow-it-affects-me/332219 "2005-11-22T07:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-really-huge-company-bounces-check-somehow-it-affects-me/332219/21 "2005-11-23T00:24:48Z")
STOP trusting your agent. From experience, she does not work for you. Get a lawyer. Your situation may work out ok, but I am telling, you from experience, the legal nightmares you can get into are crazy. No one cares whose “fault” it is, when you are the one living in the structure that is securing the loan, or the taxes in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-really-huge-company-bounces-check-somehow-it-affects-me/332219/22 "2005-11-23T01:31:58Z")
Okay, let me get this straight: > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > [lengthy summary of screwed up closing redacted] > > Put in a call to my real estate agent - who is the world’s best real estate agent, I guarantee you. She did not seemed worried. Not much worries her. I could call her and be like “uh hey…there appears to be tigers living in my crawlspace” and she’d have it taken care of before I hung up the phone. > > * * * > > I don’t hear from the realtor again for a bit, but in the meantime the county lady emails me again to confirm i got her last email and she is very worried and repeats that I MUST TAKE CARE OF THIS IMMEDIATELY!!! > > Bugger. Another call to the realtor, who gets her crack realty secretary on it this time. > > 4:30 later that day, I get a call from the woman at the title agency who handled my title transfer. She tells me that yeah, there was a mix up but not my fault. The lien was supposed to be paid by the seller, and it was. But the check BOUNCED…and like…i dunno, no one noticed except for me?! (by now it’s been about a week or 2 since the title transfer) > [@Random](#): > > Sounds like you need to see a lawyer licensed in your state. > > General comment: especially if you don’t have a lawyer, this emerging trend where GiantCo is the dual agent for the seller and buyer, the title insurer, closing agent, and lender is just full of scary conflicts of interest. Try to avoid that. And get a lawyer - one that’s recommended by someone other than the broker. (typo corrected) > [@Zipperjj](#): > > Yes, I do have title insurance. I do not have a lawyer just yet but I know that if I do need one, my realtor will hook me up. Sigh. This is probably futile, as you’ve ignored what I and others have already suggested. But I’ll try again. 1. You need a lawyer. An independent lawyer - one not in anyway connected to, or recommended by, your realtor. 2. You should have had a lawyer at your closing. Why do I say this? Because even though you supposedly have title insurance, **someone** seems to have seriously dropped the ball at the closing. Did anyone read the title commitment? Did anyone give any thought to avoiding an off-brand title company tied to the broker? Were all appropriate title exceptions removed at closing? (Side note: Do you know what “title exceptions” are? I don’t ask this meaning to be obnoxious. Rather, I’m trying to get through to you – beyond your seeming blind trust in your nice broker. If you don’t know, why wasn’t this explained to you? If she didn’t explain, or couldn’t explain, or is not permitted to explain, shouldn’t you have had someone who could?) 1. If your\* broker was truly looking out for your interests, she would have suggested that you have a lawyer review the documents and otherwise look out for your interests in what is probably the biggest transaction that you ever have been part of. Brokers rarely do this. That’s because want their big commission check as fast as possible - so it’s close at all costs. That’s why it’s dumb to rely on a lawyer, home inspector or other closing-related professional that is recommended by the broker. If those people want to keep getting broker referrals, they might not vigorously protect your interests by looking for and finding problems with the property or the deal. \*So far, I’m not even sure “your” broker is anything of the kind. Legally, she’s likely to be the sub-agent of the seller. (Some states do have a dual agency concept, but even there, she’s not completely loyal to your side.) Unless, of course, you hired and paid for a buyer’s broker – someone you paid, who doesn’t get part of the commission that originates with the seller. Disclaimer: I’m not your lawyer, and probably not licensed in your state. This isn’t reliable legal advice – see a lawyer licensed in your state for that. Rather, what I’ve said here is a combination of general observations about the need for independant advice and comments about a few things about your closing that seem to warrant further investigation by someone who is (a) on your side and (b) knows what he/she is doing. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-really-huge-company-bounces-check-somehow-it-affects-me/332219/23 "2005-11-23T02:06:24Z")
Just seconding the GET A LAWYER, NOW sentiment of Random. Title agents can be pretty fly by night outfits, and if the tax lien is significant may not have enough to even recover from. A thing I wonder: the report of the title insurer should have said that there was an existing lien on the house. Was this stated to you? There certainly have been cases where the title search is never done and you were misled. Hopefully everything was listed in the closing documents that the past due tax is paid for you, and that this gets taken care of painlessly. Good luck! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-really-huge-company-bounces-check-somehow-it-affects-me/332219.md?page=1)