Clear Title Solutions

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/18) */
Contact Name and Title: Lance DG*** Esq
Contact Phone: ***
Contact Email: ***
Real estate transactions are a matter of contract between the seller and buyerThe title company is engaged by the parties
to perform title and escrow services pursuant to an agreement between the title company, the seller and the buyerIn the transaction which is the subject of this inquiry, the buyer contracted to purchase a property from the sellerIn the purchase contract, the parties made no agreement regarding the payment of delinquent utility servicesTypically, in a real estate contract for purchase, the parties agree to hold a certain amount of money in escrow for the payment of any unpaid water or sewer charges that are determined after closiong upon a final readingThe parties did not agree to any escrow hold for this purpose
Clear Title Solutions, like most if not all title companies, has adopted a policy to perform services only to the extent as required by the parties involved in the transactionThis policy has been in place since when the company was formed and began doing businessTo memorialize this policy as it relates to unpaid water and sewer charges, Clear Title Solutions (again like most if not all title companies) has adopted the attached document entitled "Notice Concerning Unpaid Water and Sewer Charges"This document is an individual contract between Clear Title Solutions and the seller and buyerEssentially, without quoting the exact language contained in the document, the seller and buyer acknowledge and agree that Clear Title Solutions has not investigated whether unpaid water or sewer charges exist regarding the property involved in the transactionFurther, the parties agree that Clear Title Solutions, as the title company, "is not to be held responsible for amounts that may not appear accurate at the time of closing." The parties further acknowledge that additional undisclosed charges may be charged against the property after the closingThe parties, as can be seen by the attached, executed this Notice at the closing agreeing to the terms thereofAs a result, Clear Title Solutions' responsibility to investigate for the existence of such unpaid water and water charges and address them at closing was terminated voluntarily at closing
Notwithstanding the dictates of the county ordinances relied on by the buyers in their complaint, the buyers relieved Clear Title Solutions, as a matter of agreement, to fulf* the requirements imposed by the ordinances
It is therefore the position of Clear Title Solutions that it did not fail in any due diligence requirements imposed on or agreed to by contractBy executing the attached notice, the buyers accepted the responsibility to engage in their own due diligence activities to determine whether there existed any problems with the property to which they would have rejected prior to closingThe buyers failed to protect themselves by not requiring in the purchase contract an escrow hold for the purpose of paying any possible unpaid water or sewer chargesThe buyers further failed to protect themselves by failing to read and understand the attached Notice and understanding the same performing moving forward with the closing of the propertyWe have here another example of buyers who object to being held responsible for their own failures in protecting themselves while conducting their own business affairs
Based on the foregoing, we can offer no remedy to the buyers and now consider this matter to be closed
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
While Clear Title Solutions has repeatedly maintained they have offered due diligence in the matter of the delinquent and the fault lies with myself and my wife for not "protect ourselves by "failing to read and understand" the Notice and understanding and moving forward with closing it is our interpretation of the Summit County Ordinance that the title company is to provide the purchaser with a statement from the Department of Environmental Services indicating any balances owed on the property before the signing of any waivers or the transferring of any funds, Clear Title Solutions failed to provide said statementMrLance contests we should have inquired with the county regarding any outstanding balances prior to closing; however, when my wife initially called the county regarding the delinquent bill she asked them why we were not informed of the balance when we first switched the account to our name or on the two bills we have received since JulyShe was informed by the county official due to client privacy; they will not disclose account information to any other person than the one whose name is associated with the balanceThey went on to state is up to our title agency to make such inquiries before closingSo the negligence MrLance has continued to place on me and my wife regarding the failure to find out if there was a past bill is information we would not have been able to receive on our own at the timeIn addition, the county confirmed our understanding of the Ordinance stating the statement is to be presented to the homebuyer by the title company prior to the signing of any waiver
When learning of this statement and receiving clarification from the Department of Environmental Services my wife reached out to Clear Title Solutions again and asked why we did not receive the statement in questionShe was informed the statement was not available at the timeShe then called the county again to find out when the statement would have been availableShe was informed because the account, at the time of closing, was not past days it would not be marked as delinquent therefore generating no statementHowever, the official stated, in those instances the title company is to complete a request for a Sewer Verification Form to the county prior to closingThis form would indicate any past due balances and is to be presented to the home buyer in lieu of the statementThe county confirmed Clear Title Solutions is aware of this; they have done it before, and requested a copy of the form on July 9th (after our closing date)The official also confirmed no firm was requested nor submitted in reference to our propertyAgain, when questioned about this form, MrLance insisted he has never done this, the county is lying to my wife, it is our fault we find ourselves in this position, and the waiver protects him from any wrongdoingAll responses by MrLance regarding the interpretation of his responsibility and understanding of the county ordinance have been contrary to the agency responsible for enforcing the ordinance for the delinquent bill
When entering into a home transaction it is the title company's responsibility to act in the best interest of their clientsIn this instance, Clear Title Solutions, did not protect our best interestsMy wife and I, in good faith, trusted this company to complete all the necessary documentation and they failed to do their jobHad we'd been presented with this information we would not have signed the waiver nor continued with the transaction of the home
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/23) */
The buyer's response is nothing more than a restatement of his original complaintIn regard to the interpretation of the county ordinance, we and the buyers will have to agree to disagreeThe provisions of the ordinance are not mandatory and can be waived by those persons intended to be the beneficiaries thereofIt is the obligation of the title company to ensure that the buyers receive good, marketable title as of the date the deed is recordedWe, as the title company, have fulfilled that responsibilityThe matter about which the buyers complain is not a matter that affectsd the title to the property in question at the time the deed was recordedWe made it clear in a written document that we did not and would not investigate the existence of unpaid water and sewer charges that may affect the property in the future(I will note again that this policy is common among title companies in this areaIn fact, our form was adopted from the largest title company in Stark and Summit counties.) The buyers and the seller each agreed to relieve Clear Title from this obligation whether allegedly imposed by county ordinance or otherwiseThe document signed by the buyers is written in english and had they read the document, they could have chosen to delay the closing to require the seller to provide proof of payment regarding the county services or investigate whether such charges existed in a manner of their choiceMultiple other buyers over the past years have done this exact thing when they were conscientious enough to careTheir opportunity to protect themselves was waived in the same way that it would be if the buyers waived a pest inspection or a home inspectionFor the reasons stated in our initial response and this follow up, we consider this matter closed
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 16, 2015/11/30) */
UPDATE- I worked with the business to resolve this issue to my satisfactionI appreciate Clear Title for helping my wife and I figure this out
"Hello ***,
My wife and I have worked with the business to resolve this issueMrG*** put us in touch with the previous owner and we were able to work out this disputeIf you could update my complaint to reflect this resolution I would appreciate that
Regards,
*** ***"