All Forum Posts by: Aram Schwartz

@Rich Baer Thanks so much rich. 

@Todd Pultz Todd, I was also just curious because you may be the only person I have spoken with that has bought a lot from auction.com specifically. of course depending on where you are, we are in new jersey, which if we were in NY it probably would be even more advisable for those who advise doing so, to use a lawyer. did you use a lawyer for any of your purchases from auction.com? if so, did you use a lawyer for all of them? you know because we all keep costs in mind. title seems, in terms of importance, from all that we've heard is #1. so just weighing the costs...it can get added on quickly. for a bigger property a property that costs a lot more, proportionally it could probably be added on, for smaller properties those costs causes to think more about them...

@Todd Pultz hey Todd, thanks so much for taking the time to write here. that is the impression I get, I think you summarize it really well, because you have bought a lot from them indeed. I figured that if the title company going through seller's side is trustworthy enough, and I have had a very amicable open line of communication with all of them, that I would go with them because their all 5 star ratings are better than any I could ever find, and the seller's lawyer has said oh yeah this title company...yeah basically...not saying I have to be over-trusting, but I do get a sense of the situation and get a sense whether I should insist that I use my own etc etc with all the parties involved knowing everyone will be involved, getting a resolution that is sensible and reasonable. thanks again Todd. 

@Percy N. Percy, does this mean that you did not buy title insurance and that is how you lost the 11K over a missed lien? the thing is not about title insurance, the thing is getting the title company, I am using the seller's, just to not make a fuss and also because they are genuinely reputable and good folks and I have an open line of communication with them, the thing is to have title insurance cover the liens exceptions list mentioned on auction.com, does a FULL search cover these liens exceptions, and can you even have a report comprehensive enough to cover all liens exceptions? because one can use one's imagination for possible liens, not just those exceptions mentioned on auction.com like hoa liens, irs liens, child support, state/local tax, etc. so are you saying the title insurance will cover you for liens missed (all the ones you ask of them...perfectly willing to pay extra for each additional one) and not yet filed??? so it's like the title insurance there is the backbone of it the most important part, and then you just start adding other possible liens and they charge you for each additional liens you want them to search??

@Jonathan David "As an attorney myself, I am not sure what good hiring an attorney will do for you other than to perhaps explain to you all the ways you can get screwed. They have an airtight 50 page waiver that basically says you can lose your shirt. But you were buying the house as an investor so you know there can be problems with the property, that is why you were buying at a discount. On the title end A warranty deed and title insurance should cover you so long as you make sure there are no outstanding liens" 

I was wondering if I could get some clarification about what you said here. The airtight 50 page waiver that basically says you can lose your shirt...and then you said a warranty deed and title insurance should cover you so long as you make sure there are no outstanding liens. If I do the latter, a warranty deed and title insurance that makes sure there are no outstanding liens, especially the list on auction.com that is given to every buyer of auction.com, then you say you it "should cover you". So this space between "airtight 50 page waiver basically saying you can lose your shirt" and "should cover you"...where am I supposed to find the balance? 

@Barry Boyce Hi Barry, you seem to know about the specifics of what is in a title report. I won a studio condo on auction.com, bank-owned/special warranty deed. good relations with the listing agent, seller's lawyer, and title company. all good folks. a prelim was not included in my contract, I was given mixed info from auction.com associates as to whether it will be in the contract or not. Since I have had a brief convo with all the parties and they've let me know whether directly or indirectly "there are no liens, it's clear, you dont have to worry because we know folks worry about this," and the title company is through the closing's escrow, they are very reputable and have good folks, is it step outside of my boundaries to request a prelim? and could I make some requests (very willing to pay extra if needed) if in the title insurance they could cover the liens exceptions list mentioned on the auction.com for every buyer (you know, hoa liens, irs liens, state/local tax, child support, you know all types of examples  from that list given by auction.com), could I then request willing to pay more to have coverage for those, to have the title policy cover those liens exceptions. I was just curious about it works normally, because I try my best to keep good relations with the other side while doing due diligence on my side. I could ask auction.com and insist that I have my own closing and title, but with the timeline of auction.com and I think it may perhaps sour a relation that does not need to be soured, because it would involve a collaboration with them, two closing, fees, amending contract, having seller agree to amendment of collaborating with another closing, etc. etc. etc. finding that balance without needing to sour anything really, I dont see the need for that.

@Rich Baer Rich, you said 4 years ago (readying this in 2020) that "you have the legal right to choose any one to close the property for you. They make you think they control everything but they only control the timing of it all." I guess I could intend on having my own closing company and title insurance, but I already have good relations with the listing agent, the seller's lawyer, and the title company the most reputable in the region, the title company whom I have an open line of communication with. If I keep good relations, I feel that letting them know in a timely manner (I have about 1-2 weeks before I have to give my 5% deposit), to cover the liens exceptions listed on auction.com, because I want to keep good relations. It's not so much I am distrustful and not so much I am trustful. but it seems like it is a lot of resistance when you are try they keep the control on things and make it seem that way, and they've said you can try to have two closing companies co-operate, amend the contract, send the contract to seller again. so it is meeting a lot of resistance with all parties, I figure I'd do my due diligence, the title company are more than reputable and good folks. there is a good enough relations with the listing agent, seller's lawyer, and title company whom after my calls have all implicitly told me basically "there are no liens, it's clear, there's nothing to worry about"...for me to then fight them on it. I would just kindly request that they include the liens exceptions from auction.com website, and keep moving forward with them to close. 

@Mindy Jensen Ok thanks Mindy, thanks for the correction. I understand what @Steve Morris is saying now, special warranty deed limits insurance to what happened while the seller owned it. So anything that predates to the bank (the current owner) owning would have been cleared by the bank when they took back the property AS LONG AS any liens predating the bank having it was reported. So the question is, if a lien was added or reported after the bank took it back and during the period the bank owned it before selling it to me, would I be responsible for any newly added or reported liens or would it be covered by a special warranty deed? 

@Todd Rasmussen Hello Todd, if I could ask for one more advice from you. @Luis Cortazar Luis as well I was curious. The thing with auction.com is that it has that list, that they give to every buyer. liens exceptions list. I will include below. Now the difficult part is....even though I have a good relationship with the listing agent, the seller's lawyer, and the very reputable title company that they use, whom I also have an open line of communication with, they've all told me no liens it's clear...which not that I am distrustful and not that I am trustful, but I would like to make sure in the next 1-2 weeks before putting down the 5% deposit that the liens exceptions list from auction.com would be covered under the title insurance. I have already done a lot of this research myself HOA liens, IRS liens, there are other things, but the questions is, how do you make sure the title has coverage? Todd, I bid on the property without doing this because it was ok for me to take the risk of the $2500 cancellation fee, I was completely ok with that. but before the 5% deposit, how does one make sure the liens exceptions are covered, do I just ask them to cover those? give them the list without being annoying? I could see how I could come off as being annoying when they've very nicely and not in any deceiving way have told me "there are no liens" in a way to say implicitly dont worry...it's clean. I guess you cannot account for everything...there could be a $65 lawn mowing lien they didn't pay (well not really in my case it's a bank owned/special warranty/studio condo), but the imagination is not limited here. so coming away with a title at closing that is relatively clean that you won't feel like elephants will jump out. I dont know if it's over worrying as I do not know what goes behind the scenes at reputable title companies, they may have access to all these things...and if it is clean I should be able to walk away without being too high-strung about it.

@Dustin Haviland Dustin, thanks for this post from 3 years ago, it is extremely informative such as it is coming from an experienced title professional. It is hard to know what goes on behind the scenes at title companies, even if the most reputable in your region and you have some assurance of its reputation. I have two questions about what you said:

1) the part about "best words 'judgment in decree of foreclosure'...judgement holder should be the seller". do you mean here that you want to make sure you are not buying the "right to fight" the previous owner prior to the bank owning it, that you've simply bought the bank's "right to fight" the owner prior to the bank owning it?

2) what exactly do you mean towards the end when you say judgments should date all to before the foreclosure judgement? judgements, if reported, prior to the bank owning it means the bank would have cleared it when they bought it before selling it to you. but if it was not reported prior to the bank owning it, then there was no way for the bank to clear it when it they took it back from the previous owner, when the bank took back the property, they would clear whatever was reported when they took it back. is that what you mean?

Thanks & Regards,