East Texas Title Companies

After several customer service issues we left their title company and were billed the full amount we were quoted for work they didn't deliver and they told us they had not finished yet. We engaged East Tx Title Company on 3/13/15 to provide title insurance on a property we were purchasing. We wanted to close the deal before taxes went up on the property on April 1. Both parties turned in initial signed paperwork by 3/24. We knew that was an agressive timeline but as business owners of several properties, we have done this many times before. We quickly learned the title was messy and missed the April deadline, but began to notice calls were not returned to us. We would ask for a status update or if anything was needed but those messages were ignored. We were told that because we were not the seller, there were privacy concerns, but we were simply asking for status updates and next steps. We had been asked by the seller for help with these documents and the title company was informed of this relationship on several occasions. The point of contact for the seller was clearly identified as the executor for an estate, yet calls were not returned to her. At one point, our agent told the seller she had called multiple people from the seller's family to gather information, but not one of them had a message or missed phone call from our agent's office. Also, the agent promised the seller she would send a packet of paperwork to her the following morning. At close of business the next day, the packet was still unmailed, without apology or explanation. We later learned the agent was busy working on a more profitable account. (so she didn't have time to put an envelope in the outbox, and her office assistant was the nicest and most helpful person we met during this process) We then contacted Ms Flowers, co owner, who directed us to the office manager. We began working with the manager to complete the required documentation, but noticed once again our calls were not returned. The manager began asking us if we received emails from her. When we said, "No", she told us some information verbally, rather than resend the missing emails. We do not believe the emails were actually sent. In particular, we received a complete list of the requirements to close/title commitment on April 9. It had many specific items to be resolved, but did not indicate a survey would be required. On April 13, The manager emailed us to see if we had received her email "about the survey". We emailed & called for multiple days seeking clarification before she finally answered & said a survey would now be necessary. A survey is not always a requirement for the purchase of raw land. I again spoke to Ms Flowers expressing frustration about unanswered phone calls and she told me if she reviewed my case in the first place she would have never taken it on and she really didn't have time to complete it. She also said little progress had been made. At this point, we wanted to move our business but asked for a summary of what would be needed to wrap this up with East Texas Title. At this time, the office manager also began asking other random people in the office to return our calls. On Thursday 3/23, we were told by the office manager and Ms Flowers that the affidavit of heirship was not complete and that all work would be suspended until we made a final decision of whether to continue with East Texas Title on the following morning. Early 3/24/15, we terminated business, but under the direct wishes of the Seller, we reversed that decision around 11am. Within an hour, we received an email from Ms. Flowers that we would have to "come to an agreement about the scope of the work for us to continue" She said she was hesitant to continue without discussing things with the office staff. At this point, the seller was also told we needed to pay in full before any more work was done, and so the seller agreed with us to change companies. We finally ended our dealings with East Tx Title by noon, 4/24. At the same time, unknown to us, an employee was directed by her supervisor to fax a copy of the affidavit to a funeral home previously used by the seller to receive & send paperwork. The seller was never contacted about this. The company told us they stopped working effective Thurday night and no progress was made because even though we reversed our decision, we never had a scoping discussion with Ms Flowers. This action was later used to justify billing us in full for a document we never received & which we were told was incomplete as of the final time we left this company. When we received the bill, we tried again to call multiple times and no calls were returned. My husband called twice during this time and got through immediately on both occasions, even though my calls had been ignored earlier. We think this is because they didn't recognize his phone number. However, we feel most of the people we worked with at East Texas Title Company are dishonest and unprofessional and those attitudes seem to be pervasive up through Ms Flowers. It seems to be a law firm with the facade of a title company. It seems to be a title company in name that is used to funnel business to Ms Flowers' Law Firm. We feel they intentionally told us enough information so we would decide to leave their company, and that the timing of the completion of the document on their side coincided with that discussion to terminate our business agreement. We feel they told their employee to fax said document to a funeral home, which seems to violate client privacy between East Texas Title and the seller because they never contacted the seller to notify her of the fax at the funeral home or ask for her consent to do so; but later cited the delivery of that document as substantiation for our bill. Had they contacted the seller and let us know the document was complete, we would have closed with East Texas Title company, but they made it clear they did not want our business. We feel they intentionally stalled the progress on our title work in favor of higher paying accounts. Because the work has been completed, we will both pay for and use the legal documents in question. However, I hope to never need their assistance again, and I highly recommend to any serious investor or home buyer that they look elsewhere. Their prices seem fair, but the ultimate cost seems to be personal pain and time We did meet a few nice and professional people who worked with the company during this process, but I feel sorry for them.