True to form, the real estate agent who sold my mother’s house wouldn’t release to me the closing / settlement statement. He told me to contact my brother. When I told him there was no reason to contact my brother — that he doesn’t have POA — he told me that it doesn’t matter because he had it at the time of the sale.
So I faxed over the new POA docs, the revocation of my brother’s POA docs, and had the new POA call him and ask for the information on behalf of the principle and deed holder, in this case, my mother. I called to confirm receipt. The receptionist told me she’d place the documents into the broker’s mailbox, but he was in office, ducking my calls.
The problem I’m having is this: I need the closing / settlement statement to establish that my brother received the money and signed over the house. And that’s because the deed is still appearing in my mother’s name in every database. The sale occurred July 25, so the information should have been updated.
What further infuriated me is that after the new POA called and asked, on my mother’s behalf (as the owner of the house) for the information — which she is entitled to — the agent called my brother in Florida, who immediately called my mother in the hospital and began yelling at her. I could literally hear him on her phone even as I was talking to my aunt, the power of attorney, who was detailing the phone call with the agent to me.
Couple this with failed attempts over the last week + to get any information from the Title Company, and I’m beginning to wonder is something untoward may be happening here, and that collusion is involved in efforts to keep me from receiving information.
I am having a very difficult time trying to handle all of this while simultaneously keeping my Mom in good spirits.
People suck.
Sounds like the house is still your mom’s.
I’d serve an eviction notice and tell the squatters to take it up with Goldie.
Yeah. If only it were that simple.
Man this seems confusing. So the sketch is your mom sold her house to herself with the proceeds of the sale sticking solely to your brother’s thefty fingers, apparently with the broker’s full knowledge and now, silence? Least it looks that way from this distance.
I would tell the detective to collect all public information available about the realtor — or crowdsource it here, whichever would be most convenient and least expensive (heh).
Ditto the title company. Sunlight, disinfectant.
Call another title company. Get them to do a search. Check for liens and reverse mortgages. They should be able to tell you what went on at the last closing.
I left a voicemail with the broker telling him that my mother has a right to the settlement statement / closing statement / HUD1, and that it does not matter that the power of attorney at the time was my brother. The new POAs have the same access. I gave him until tomorrow morning to get me those faxes.
My brother has the paperwork but refuses to send it to me. He also says he sold the condo to a “friend” at a “really good price,” and now he just pays rent. That’s an attempt at laundering stolen proceeds, seems to me.
Anyway, the title company is Choice Settlement Group; the real estate agency is Exit Spivey Professional Real Estate and the brokers name is Anthony Blocker.
I have the Maryland Real Estate Labor, Licensing and Regulation board’s page up on my computer. Tomorrow, I call the owner of Exit Spivey and tell him his firm is withholding information, and that I’m more than eager to file a complaint should they continue to block my mother’s right to the information.
crowdsource away!
I have become so incensed reading the installments of your gallant battle against evil brother, and for victimized mother that I registered to comment. I wish, pull, and pray for an eventual victory that will leave brother living in a hell on earth (not
Florida). Bury him, figuratively. What must Mom be feeling? May her remaining
days be comfortable. I know she, and God will bless a righteous son. Distressing as it may be, I hope you will keep us updated.
sent some $ bank ships it next monday.
Company president called back. Refused to release the information to me. Told me he’ll contact his attorney for legal advice in the morning. Which is precisely the time I’ll be contacting the MD realtor’s board.
Sounds like collusion to me.
To confirm that your brother received the proceeds from the sale:
1. Get a copy of the deed from the Recorder’s office. (If the title company did not record this document at the time of sale, then it is derelict in its fiduciary duties). The deed often states the compensation amount and its recipient(s) very clearly, and record of the deed constitutes a finalized sale.
2. Most state Departments of Revenue require an Affidavit of Value to accompany deeds of conveyance now. This document, if recorded properly by the title company, should confirm the terms of the deed: the date of the transaction, a description of the property, the seller, the buyer, the amount and form of payment.
Taken together, these two public documents – available for a small xerox fee to anybody who inquires at the recorder of the subject county(s) – represent an unimpeachable record of every aspect of the transaction, from the buyer’s mailing address to the seller’s trust details.
Hope this helps!
-S
PS: Many county recorders take requests for document searches over the phone, and they can email pdf copies to you often the same day. Give it a Go!
Jeff, depending on when the sale of the house and/or the sale of the condo took place, asshole brother should have had to pay various capital gains / income taxes on the proceeds, both at the state and federal level. Try tipping off the state and federal revenue departments on possible tax evasion by this turkey.
Honestly, I wouldn’t rule out that he’s an idiot agent who didn’t look too closely at the deal and is now freaking out that someone is after the documents and because he was so sure your brother was “good people” so who is this calling?
But yes, if the county recorded doesn’t have the filed documents, then at the very least someone’s too bad at his job to keep doing it, as the seller has every right to an individual HUD-1 or HUD-1A, both parties are supposed to receive them. But really bad agents don’t bother with that detail too because “everybody’s too happy with their new home to care about the details!”
Per SDN and this RE agent’s intransigence, I’m suspicious of some shady dealings and shenanigans between him and Goldie now. Did the sale get reported at a much lower value, with Goldie getting to declare much less in cap gains/income tax and the agent getting to pocket some of the cash difference? Seems the documents would expose something like that. Something the MD Real Estate board and your detective might be interested in, too.