AMERI TITLE

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We had wanted to use a different title company, however the contract we signed with the seller stipulated that we HAD to use Amerititle. (The seller was itself a relocation business, so we assumed they had some sort of contract deal with this title company.) Our house we were buying was NOT a short sale. Simply a cut-and-dry offered-accepted-buy deal. We were told by our lender that we could easily be done by Tuesday or Wednesday. However, (as it often happens) the appointment for our closing date was set to a Friday early in the morning. Our Realtor called earlier in the week to confirm that since we had same-day financing, we would be able to close, record, and take possession of our home by Friday afternoon or evening. She was given an affirmative for Friday by the staff member at Amerititle. Let me repeat that: they said YES we would be able to close and move in Friday. Friday morning we arrive only to be told that though we were signing earlyin the morning Friday (8:00am) the paperwork would not get done and go into record until Monday. Uh.... I had taken an entire day off of work. We already had family visiting from California and NYC who made the trip specifically to help us move. And we had a rental moving van scheduled for pick-up by 11:00. Remember: our Realtor had confirmed earlier in the week that we WOULD move in by Friday. A fact that our Realtor professionally reminded the lady holding out the paperwork. Her corresponding look can only be described as deer in the headlights. Apparently, she had never gotten that message from the person who had spoke with our Realtor over the phone. And since everything had been processed and filled out for a MONDAY closing date, we were stuck. So we were sent home with the vague hope that at 2:00 we could return to fill out, close and hopefully record by the end of the day. We had to pay extra to keep our rental moving truck the additional time. And we waited. At 2:00 we come in and start signing away our life. Only to be confronted with the oversight that since we were closing Today instead of the Monday, our cashiers check (for a Very large sum) was short by $30. Fortunately, we were able to come up with the cash to cover the difference. We go home and wait... we would know by 5:00. At 4:50 we receive the call. Our Realtor was told by Amerititle that they were waiting on some sort of paperwork or approval from the seller. Which would come "in ten minutes" and since the Court House would be closed by then... we would have to do this all over again... on Monday. Which meant calling our landlords to ask if we could stay and use their utilities for the weekend (having already switched everything over) and having to entertain guests in an empty house. Did I mention how much it costs to have a rental truck that you didn't even really get to use? Not to mention, I wasted a whole day of work. Lost wages there too. As if things could not get worse... on Monday the bomb was really dropped. Without consulting us, the Title company went ahead and decided that we would be signing on Monday... and going into record on Tuesday. First of all: we have already been inconvenienced on this for an ENTIRE weekend. But more importantly: our buyer/seller agreement stated we had to close by MONDAY. Yeah. In other words the whole deal would not be going through. Fortunately, with the help of our Realtor, we were able to reach an agreement with the seller to allow us to extend the contract the additional day. The seller seemed just as frustrated and surprised by the turn of events as we were. Sadly, our family member from NYC had to return that Tuesday. Which meant a wasted visit, vacation hours, and money for his flight to Brooklyn. Ironically, the seller insists that they had sent an affirmative that we could close on Friday. They have repeatedly stated that they were willing to work with us to get us into the house on Friday. So what happened? Our inquiries have been met with a lot of "finger pointing." Since we can not get a straight answer to WHO dropped the ball, then we can only assume it was a combination of "communication issues" within AmeriTitle. Whether or not those communication issues rested on one individual, or with the overall business culture of AmeriTitle is only for them to know. However, from our perspective, even when communication issues come up it is still the responsibility of the company to try and do their job professionally and in a timely manner. It is certainly NOT professional to continue to make excuses, postpone, and make decisions without considering or consulting both the buyer and seller. To avoid going into a rant, I will simply say this was the most horrendous experience, and had it not been for our feisty Realtor and the cooperative Seller, we would probably have lost our dream home... three days after we were supposed to move in.