Resolution of the "Missing Fifty Thousand Dollars"

Good Evening

As a follow up to my last post "A First for Me!" where I talked about the case of the missing $50,000 cashier's check, I wanted to bring this saga to an end and let you all know what transpired today.

During our short negotiations and escrow period, I had built up a good rapport with the Seller.  I handled the negotiations in a non-adversarial manner.  I wanted to know if she had received her funds so I decided to give her a call and ask her.  I called this morning and this is how our conversation went:

dwo34: Good Morning, how are you?

Seller: I am fine, but I have an issue with the title company.

dwo34: Really? What is your issue?

Seller: Well, as you know we went on record on Wednesday of last week.  I received a phone call from the title company last week notifying me.  I gave her instructions to wire the funds to my account and she said she would.  She told me that the wire would be sent out on Thursday morning because we recorded in the afternoon.  Well, I called my bank around lunch on Thursday and my money was not there.  I called the escrow officer and she said she was so busy she did not have time to wire the money.

dwo34: The escrow officer can instruct anyone in the office to contact their bank to wire the money. She does not do this herself.

Seller: I know.  She lied to me.  She told me that she wired the money on Friday. But the fact is, she never did.  When I spoke to her this morning she told me that they misplaced $50,000 and the amount she had for me was short.  I told her that's not my problem and wire me the money.  They are still holding the other portion of my money too.  They won't release any of my money and they told me they would try to get the property back for me.  I don't want the property back, it closed and I want my money.  I am so furious that she lied to me and was so negligent with the Buyer's money.

dwo34: I knew about this on Thursday and I am sorry that you have to go through this.  I wished you would have allowed me to open the escrow at the company I always deal with (Stewart Title).  Where did you leave it with the title company?

Seller: I told her to send me my money or I will sue them.  They screwed up.  She told me that she had all the money to close on Tuesday.  So I place the blame on them.  How long should I give them before I call my attorney?

dwo34: I will go and meet with them today and see if I can get it ratified.  I will call you later and let you know the outcome.

Seller: Thank you and I appreciate you stepping in and helping.

I did have a meeting with the title company and I basically said:  

Look, the Buyer brought in all the funds to close.  You confirmed it in writing to me.  Some where between receiving the funds and getting ready to deposit the funds, you lost it.  That is your problem.  We don't have an issue with the Seller.  You do.  As a matter of fact, I spoke to the Seller this morning and she tells me that you have not been totally honest with her and it appears you are trying to "cover up" something.  The Buyer will not be signing the property back over to the Seller.  The Seller is not willing to wait 90 days for her funds.  Unless you file a claim with your insurance company for $50,000, we will be contacting the insurance commissioner and letting them know what transpired and all of your mixed signals.  We will also show all of our documentation that we have that clearly shows you are not being honest and broke your fiduciary responsibility.

After some phone calls to upper brass, we got what I had come for.  The title company will end up sending the Seller the $50,000 that they "lost."  The Buyer will be reimbursed for the added expenses he incurred while trying to get another "cashier's check."  And I have the satisfaction of having a happy client and perhaps picking up a new one (Seller).

I also told the manager that I spoke to, that I did not appreciate any of the tactics that her mid level manager tried to use on me in an attempt for me to have the Buyer sign back the property.  He tried to use intimidation and his "enormous legal team" as his weapon of choice. When he said that I replied "Go ahead Brian,  some of my best friends are lawyers and I actually enjoy chatting with lawyers, so I am sure I will have a nice time with your team. How long shall we drag this process?"  I told the manager today, with mid level managers like that,  I can see why you have to maintain such a large team of attorneys.  She ultimately apologized for the debacle and their bungling the escrow.   I did call the Seller and informed her of the good news, as well as the Buyer.

Once again, when you are dealing with people, there are choices.  It's prudent to chose your service providers wisely.  Call me, I have built a solid team of professionals that I can refer you to in most industries.  Even the simplest of tasks can cause large problems.  Memo to this title company: Handle those cashier's checks a little more diligently and not so carelessly!

It's October 26, 2009, and I am very Bullish on Sacramento!

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com