Greystone Title Agency

See attached response from our Corporate Counsel.

Review: This is the second issue relating to the same closing from 2011. Previous issue included omitting HOA calculations from closing documents. Eventually Greystone processed a refund check only after I filed a complaint with the Revdex.com. In addition Greystone responded to the Revdex.com complaint by stating that the matter was resolved, when at the time it wasn't.

Current complaint includes an improper address listed on closing documents which resulted in a property Tax Lien and incurring penalties in the amount of $1,190.97.

Last week, Greystone Title company agreed in writing to settle in the amount of $500.00. After I accepted the offer, a contingency included signing a Waiver of Liability , which I was uncomfortable signing.

The offer was pulled in its entirety by Greystone Title.Desired Settlement: $1,197.97 for incurring penalty fee's plus

$986.50 refund of closing costs (services not rendered)

Business

Response:

To Whom it may concern:I would like to offer the following in regard to Ms. [redacted]’s complaint. First I would agree that there was a prior issue in which Greystone, based on our formerEscrow Agent’s communications, agreed to cover expenses related to an omitted HOA transfer fee on the settlement statement. These fees were omitted because our escrow agent broke company policy and honored the customer’s request not to inform the HOA of the transfer. When the HOA fee issue finally came to fruition, the client then claimed that the issue was brought up at closing and all parties agreed to handle outside of closing. Unfortunately this was not documented in writing. Whereas our escrow officer did not follow company policy, we agreed to cover the expense despite no liability to do so. As to this incident, the client contends that the industry wide practice of placing the subject property’s address on thecounty’s Affidavit of Value is improper. Once the documents are prepared in accordance with this practice, the documents are provided to the client for review and signature. Ms. [redacted] reviewed and executed the document and many other reflecting the tax mailing address as the property address without objection. Although she approved its use, she is now claiming that she did not read the documents she signed and somehow Gresytone should be liable for her actions. From the communications in this matter it is has also been alleged that Ms. [redacted] was concerned about the tax mailing address and informed our EO to use a different address on several occasions prior to closing. We can find no evidence of any such discussions either in our company e-mail server or conversation log. If this were the case certainly an objection would have been made when she reviewed the documents.Even discounting the above, it is important to note that if a different address was used, the tax bill would still have been mailed to the previous owner as the Treasurer would not have processed the request prior to the tax bill being issued. Surely if Ms. [redacted] had any concern about this issue she as she claims she would have contacted the Treasurer when she did not receive the tax bill. Despite no liability, Greystone did originally offer Ms. [redacted] $500 solely as a good will gesture for her Realtor. Whereas we had been subjected to similar unfounded extortion attempts by this client the offer was coupled with a release. Ms. [redacted] first agreed to accept the offer but changed her mind allegedly because of the release. Such refusal leads me to believe that she isdoing so in the hopes of making other unsupported claims in the future to extract further concessions. Whereas Ms. [redacted] has confirmed this in the filing of this frivolous complaint the offer iswithdrawn. Any future slanderous conduct will be dealt with accordingly.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The Affidavit of Property Value submitted to the Tax Assessor by Greystone Title reads as follows:Section 4. Address of Property[redacted]. [redacted], [redacted]Section 5. MAIL TAX BILL TO:[redacted]. [redacted], [redacted]Section 6. PROPERTY TYPEa). VACANT LANDIt was Greystone Title's responsibility to have policies and procedures in place to ensure such mistakes were found and corrected prior to submitting documents to Assessor's Office. Last I checked the Postal Service did not deliver mail to vacant land and yet no one at Greystone Title (Escrow Officer, Auditor, Manager) identified this glaring oversight.Furthermore, the Affidavit of Property Value is signed and notorized by [redacted], Escrow Officer...my signature does not exist anywhere on this document as Greystone Title previously claimed.It is clear that as a result of this error, I have incurred a Tax Lien, Penalties for Delinquent Taxes, and Financial loss.I find it deplorable that instead of taking responsibility for their actions, Greystone Title prefers to threaten and intimidate its customers.My previous request to resolve this matter as outlined in the complaint stands.I appreciate the Revdex.com continuing to investigate this complaint.

Regards,

Business

Response:

To Whom it May Concern:After due consideration Greystone Title Agency must decline any request of settlement from the claimant. The claimant has previously asserted unfounded claims against our company and against corporate counsel’s advice and as a favor to the Real Estate Broker involved, Greystone acquiesced to her prior extortion demands. This will not occur again and any defamation of our company will be addressed accordingly. This client is a sophisticated real estate investor whom is well aware of the taxation of Arizona real estate. Even if she had provided a proper mailing address to us she still would not have received a tax bill due to the timing of her closing. Greystone Title cannot be held liable for her failure to pay real estate taxes in which she was aware.