The Lehane Team

Our agent, [redacted] , who represented the buyers in this transaction(not the complainant), was told by the buyers' Mortgage Lender that her clients would qualify for the Kent County transfer tax credit for first time homebuyers because they had never owned real estate in the U.S This exemption is also granted to the sellers in the Kent Cojurisdiction if buyers qualify To the best of our agents' knowledge, information, and belief, the credit would apply and she informed the agent for the sellers of the same By way of further information, the Delaware State portion of transfer tax is never waived, and most towns and other municipalities no longer offer this exemption to the seller Just days before final settlement was to take place, the attorney for the buyers informed all parties that Kent County would not honor the exemption as the buyers had owned property outside the U.S Real Estate agents neither schedule nor "cancel" a real estate settlement, this is done by the settlement attorney's office Once a contract has been negotiated and agreed upon, there are many items that must be addressed for settlement to take place, such as a title search, survey, inspections, appraisal, mortgage loan approval, etc., none of which is performed by a real estate agent Our standard real estate contracts explain, and all parties agreed, that at times the date of settlement must be moved in order to complete all items The original settlement was scheduled for January 10th, but the lender needed more time to obtain final mortgage approval, and settlement did, in fact, occur on January 14th, it was not cancelled, simply delayed Whatever the seller had to pay toward the principal and interest of their mortgage would have in fact been refunded to them at final settlement as part of the net proceeds of the sale.The transfer tax credit the parties would have received had buyers' in fact qualified, was not made part of the agreement of sale, however, ALL parties contributed a portion of their fees and commissions to cover the sellers portion in total (buyers-clients of RE/MAX Eagle Realty- paid their own portion in full out of pocket), INCLUDING our agent, [redacted] , who contributed $of her earned commission in good faith, even though she had no legal obligation to do so The loan officer and settlement attorney each also contributed $100.00.As to the employment positions of the sellers, I am without sufficient information to respond, however in no way do I believe that my agent or brokerage are responsible for any inconvenience the clients of another firm may have experienced with regard to this issue The purchase or sale of a home is the largest financial transaction most Americans will ever participate in, and taking a day off from work, paid or unpaid, is customary and reasonable

As escrow agents, we do not make the decision as to who receives escrow monies, that is a legal issue and between buyer and seller when there is a dispute over who should receive the funds. In the event that buyer and seller cannot agree, the parties are to settle the difference in the proper
court of law. In order for an escrow agent to release funds to a particular party, there must be a fully executed legal document, either in the form of a court order, or a mutually agreed upon release of funds, received and on file. Our office received an executed release document on 2/6/2014. Under the law, we have days to process such a release. A check was processed and mailed to *** *** on 2/18/See attached documentation

Our agent, [redacted], who represented the buyers in this transaction(not the complainant), was told by the buyers' Mortgage Lender that her clients would qualify for the Kent County transfer tax credit for first time homebuyers  because they had never owned real estate in the...

U.S.  This exemption is also granted to the sellers in the Kent Co. jurisdiction if buyers qualify.  To the best of our agents' knowledge, information, and belief, the credit would apply and she informed the agent for the sellers of the same.  By way of further information, the Delaware State portion of transfer tax is never waived, and most towns and other municipalities no longer offer this exemption to the seller.  Just days before final settlement was to take place, the attorney for the buyers informed all parties that Kent County would not honor the exemption as the buyers had owned property outside the U.S.  Real Estate agents neither schedule nor "cancel" a real estate settlement, this is done by the settlement attorney's office.  Once a contract has been negotiated and agreed upon, there are many items that must be addressed for settlement to take place, such as a title search, survey, inspections, appraisal, mortgage loan approval, etc., none of which is performed by a real estate agent.  Our standard real estate contracts explain, and all parties agreed, that at times the date of settlement must be moved in order to complete all items.  The original settlement was scheduled for January 10th, but the lender needed more time to obtain final mortgage approval, and settlement did, in fact, occur on January 14th, it was not cancelled, simply delayed.  Whatever the seller had to pay toward the principal and interest of their mortgage would have in fact been refunded to them at final settlement as part of the net proceeds of the sale.The transfer tax credit the parties would have received had buyers' in fact qualified, was not made part of the agreement of sale, however, ALL parties contributed a portion of their fees and commissions to cover the sellers portion in total (buyers-clients of RE/MAX Eagle Realty- paid their own portion in full out of pocket), INCLUDING our agent, [redacted], who contributed $300 of her earned commission in good faith, even though she had no legal obligation to do so.  The loan officer and settlement attorney each also contributed $100.00.As to the employment positions of the sellers, I am without sufficient information to respond, however in no way do I believe that my agent or brokerage are responsible for any inconvenience the clients of another firm may have experienced with regard to this issue.  The purchase or sale of a home is the largest financial transaction most Americans will ever participate in, and taking a day off from work, paid or unpaid, is customary and reasonable.

While I understand the frustration in dealing with a short sale, it appears the buyer/complainant, who was not and is not a client of our company, has a misunderstanding of the process. 
"Because the Eagle group did not get proper signatures on necessary documents this house went to...

sheriffs sale and I did not have a chance to purchase this home" - the fact is that no real estate agent, broker, or agency has any control over whether or not a bank accepts a short sale contract, or moves forward with a foreclosure on any property.  All documentation that was submitted to us from the buyer/complainants' agent was presented to the bank for consideration in a timely manner."Myself and my mom were told on three different occasions that my deposit was in the mail." - I cannot confirm or deny what her agent may have told her or a family member, again, my firm represents the seller on this file, not the buyer/complainant
 
"  I was told my an employee of this company that they had 72 hours to issue this check. The owner of this company has not returned our last call into them regarding this check. It is our concern that they have no intention of sending this check. " - Again, buyer/complainant is not our client, they should be speaking with their agent regarding this matter.  The fact is that as broker, I am bound by law with regard to the release of escrow trust monies.  As an escrow agent, I may only release funds by way of the fulfillment of a purchase contract, a MUTUALLY SIGNED release of deposit (meaning, signed by all parties-buyer and seller), or a court order (meaning, one of the parties filed suit for the release and prevailed).  I received the mutually signed release on 06/30/2016, a copy of which is uploaded.  There is no statute for the amount of time allotted for the release of escrow monies, however it is generally accepted by The Commission that 30 days is a reasonable amount of time.  I think the confusion on this may stem from the statute that reads "The broker shall deposit the moneys into the broker's escrow account within 72 hours of the signing of the written agreement by all parties, or by the dates defined therein, excluding weekends and federal holidays." 
 
That said, and to recap:  Our office received the required legal document needed to disburse funds on Thursday, June 30, 2016.  Our office closed early on July 1, and was closed July 4 for the holiday.  I received an email today from the buyer/complainants agent regarding the status and communicated to him that we have the documentation and will process the release of earnest money within a reasonable amount of time, but that with the holiday as well as having been short staffed and working through a back log, we have not processed the file as of today.  The escrow monies will be released as I am legally bound to do.

Review: I had purchased a house from remax did not get the house.It was not my fault I gave remax a deposit of one thousand dollars. I was told by remax that I will be getting my money back. But I did not receive anything I just want my money that's allDesired Settlement: Refund my one thousand dollars. That is all I want

Business

Response:

As escrow agents, we do not make the decision as to who receives escrow monies, that is a legal issue and between buyer and seller when there is a dispute over who should receive the funds. In the event that buyer and seller cannot agree, the parties are to settle the difference in the proper court of law. In order for an escrow agent to release funds to a particular party, there must be a fully executed legal document, either in the form of a court order, or a mutually agreed upon release of funds, received and on file. Our office received an executed release document on 2/6/2014. Under the law, we have 30 days to process such a release. A check was processed and mailed to [redacted] on 2/18/2014. See attached documentation.

Review: Due to the failure of [redacted] to correctly perform her job the buyer and me the seller are stuck with transfer taxes. Our negotiations were based on not paying transfer tax due to buyer being considered first home buyers. They are not qualify as first home buyers anymore. We also negotiated to settle before my mortgage was due so I did not have to pay the payment for that month. She cancelled settlement the day of which means I will have to pay my payment. Also my Realitor has been more than happy to adjust his commission to cover transfer tax costs. Everybody involved is paying more out of pocket except her. She dropped the ball and has not suffered any consequences. I also took off work for day of settlement. I do not get paid when I am off. My wife had to use vacation time for her day off. If realtor did her job in the first place this could have been resolved.Desired Settlement: She should adjust commission to cover both parties transfer tax. Also cover costs for missed work and mortgage payment. Thank you for your time.

Business

Response:

Our agent, [redacted], who represented the buyers in this transaction(not the complainant), was told by the buyers' Mortgage Lender that her clients would qualify for the Kent County transfer tax credit for first time homebuyers because they had never owned real estate in the U.S. This exemption is also granted to the sellers in the Kent Co. jurisdiction if buyers qualify. To the best of our agents' knowledge, information, and belief, the credit would apply and she informed the agent for the sellers of the same. By way of further information, the Delaware State portion of transfer tax is never waived, and most towns and other municipalities no longer offer this exemption to the seller. Just days before final settlement was to take place, the attorney for the buyers informed all parties that Kent County would not honor the exemption as the buyers had owned property outside the U.S. Real Estate agents neither schedule nor "cancel" a real estate settlement, this is done by the settlement attorney's office. Once a contract has been negotiated and agreed upon, there are many items that must be addressed for settlement to take place, such as a title search, survey, inspections, appraisal, mortgage loan approval, etc., none of which is performed by a real estate agent. Our standard real estate contracts explain, and all parties agreed, that at times the date of settlement must be moved in order to complete all items. The original settlement was scheduled for January 10th, but the lender needed more time to obtain final mortgage approval, and settlement did, in fact, occur on January 14th, it was not cancelled, simply delayed. Whatever the seller had to pay toward the principal and interest of their mortgage would have in fact been refunded to them at final settlement as part of the net proceeds of the sale.The transfer tax credit the parties would have received had buyers' in fact qualified, was not made part of the agreement of sale, however, ALL parties contributed a portion of their fees and commissions to cover the sellers portion in total (buyers-clients of RE/MAX Eagle Realty- paid their own portion in full out of pocket), INCLUDING our agent, [redacted], who contributed $300 of her earned commission in good faith, even though she had no legal obligation to do so. The loan officer and settlement attorney each also contributed $100.00.As to the employment positions of the sellers, I am without sufficient information to respond, however in no way do I believe that my agent or brokerage are responsible for any inconvenience the clients of another firm may have experienced with regard to this issue. The purchase or sale of a home is the largest financial transaction most Americans will ever participate in, and taking a day off from work, paid or unpaid, is customary and reasonable.