Title Problem Discovered During HELOC Application

Title Problem Discovered During HELOC Application

Brownstown, MI · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 98 votes

This is AWESOME!  You guys are going to love this.

I applied at Bank of America (mistake 1) for a HELOC. I liked the option of interest only and a 10 year draw, etc. It makes for a cheap ability to keep money moving around for my purposes.

Anyway, they call me today and tell me that they ran a title search on my primary (the one I applied for HELOC) and I am showing a bankruptcy in 2013 and my girlfriend (also on the deed to the home) is showing a bankruptcy in 2012. We bought this house in 2010.

So I tell bank of america, "Hey, I just refinanced my rental property LAST MONTH with an 810 credit rating, how can this be accurate?"  She said "it probably is a mistake but you need to get it cleared." Never even missing a payment in my life I said "how the  hell do I do that?"  She said "I would start with your county clerk's office." Oh great.  Those that live and do anything in Detroit know how crappy that answer is, because it's nearly impossible to reach someone and they don't call back.

So, I spent an hour calling everybody and getting nowhere.  I then call a loan officer and talk to him.  He said they should provide proof to me that this is on there and then their title company should be able to fix it for me.  So i called bank of america rep back and she said she will call the title company and ask if they have any more info on this but that's the best she can do.

So i said fine.

So, I called my credit union where I should have gone in the first place.  They have my primary mortgage to this house.  I called, talked with them, they said no problem, when / if it shows up they will fix it for me.  LOL

Just to be sure, my friend's sister owns a title company locally.  I talked with her, and she said she could fix that in 5 minutes.  She said because both my girlfriend's name and mine are very common last names someone just screwed it up but it should be SIMPLE to fix, and she would fix it quick if I was able to use her.  

So, I'm hoping that's all it's going to be.  I am hoping that it will get cleared without an issue.  

I kept arguing with the bank of america rep, I said you haev my credit report, it shows NOTHING, and an 810 score, how can you honestly think i Have a bankruptcy from a year ago?  And she kept saying "yah it could be a mistake".  UH NO IT IS A MISTAKE!! MY GOD!

Anyway, isn't this fun?

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Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
11y

@David Roberts - public court records normally don't contain SSN in them, so there is no way to match a person by that unique number.  So they must use some other attributes to perform the match beyond just seeing that the names match; especially with commons last names.  One way is to look at the street address of the court record and the address history of the person as shown in the credit report.

When I check criminal records on tenants and contractors, I use name and known addresses; for tenants I tell them that a match of name and date of birth on a criminal record is considered a match (I am not going to go crazy trying to determine if two or more people with the same name and date of birth exist).

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  • Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    @David Roberts 

    you don't have to, but maybe use your middle name for official docs.

  • Brownstown, MI · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 98 votes
    11y

    you mean sign everything with my full name? 

  • Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    @David Roberts 

    Yes, a middle name would distinguish you from the dead beat David Roberts because his name is David xxxxx Roberts and you are David yyyy Roberts.  Then your standard line would be I'm not that David xxxx guy, I'm David yyyy. 

  • Lender · Greater LA/Orange County area, CA · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    11y

    Start using your Mother's maiden (last) name to distinguish yourself. 

    Hopefully, your Mother's maiden name is recognizable but not too out-of-place.

    Also, leave out the hyphen.

  • Brownstown, MI · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 98 votes
    11y

    When I looked up the actual people on Pacer.gov they were not even in my city.  They were 100+ miles from me.  Same for my girlfriend's.  

  • Investor · Hoffman Estates, IL · Member since 2014 · 434 posts · 185 votes
    11y

    Most of the time the names match, but there's usually a SSN listed for those other people.  That should be enough for title to issue a policy on it.  They can let your lender know that it's not you and you can move on.  It happens all the time.

  • Brownstown, MI · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 98 votes
    11y

    Things appear to be resolving.  I took a call from the BOA processor yesterday.  She said the title company sent a report that exonerated my name from the bankruptcy.  They hadn't received my girlfriend's report yet, but were expecting it in the next couple of days. 

    So, hopefully I'm 1-2 weeks away from closing at this point.  Thank God because I'm watching deals slip through my fingers on a daily basis.  Time is ticking!

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