Well...All's well ends well! We closed on a property Friday and couldn't be happier. At least we got a home and only lost $1200.00 on that nightmare Wells Fargo bank owned property. The irony of the entire nightmare is that we are one block away aka one street over from that property! Karma? Fate? Who knows!!!!!!!

Now to invest all that money into make the home OUR HOME and not in repairs, half-arse modifications, and poorly installed plumbing, electrical, and termite ridden wood!

Good luck to the next owners when that hunk of junk is back on MLS! AND ANY AGENTS REPRESENTING THIS PROPERTY IN THE FUTURE>>>BUYER BEWARE!

I would expect FULL reimbursement of all funds that were put down in the good faith deposit and that the fees would be paid for by escrow, the agent, or most likely the bank.

Read the escrow instructions that you signed. It probably states that in the event of a cancelation, the escrow company can withhold certain fees to cover their expenses. I realize it seems unfair, but it would be fair to ask the notary who stayed late to do it for free. That is how they feed their family. There is some risk in trying to purchase a home.

I agree that the bank should step up and cover these expenses. You might consider small claims court. The bank might just settle to avoid the trouble. But I would not expect an attorney to spend their time trying recover a few hundred dollars. Their fees would probably exceed what they recovered.

So the drama continues. After 9 business days of signing the cancellation we finally get notification that we are going to get back our good faith deposit. A check was issued on Friday and sent in the mail because the escrow company (I am trying SO SO SO hard to not mention company names but getting really close to it) was too cheap to pay for the wiring fee of a measly $25.00. Now it is Tuesday afternoon and I still have no check. I call escrow and tell them I will pay the measly $25.00 if they can wire the funds today because we need the money to close on a new property before Thursday. I am reassured that the funds will be transferred and that the escrow company will pay for the wire fee. HURRAY!!!! So the funds just came through and it was for a total of $19,800.00. Apparently $200.00 went to fees for the notary. The same notary that we spend a happy evening signing all the paperwork only to find out the sale was canceled the very next day.

Why should I have to pay for a service that gave me nothing but a ream of paperwork with my signature on it? Shouldn't I be given the full amount? Yes I did sign paperwork that stated we would be given back $19,800.00 minus fees which was $200.00 but the total stated $20,000.00. The CARS forms we signed from WFB for cancellation all stated $20,000.00!! Our agent agrees and states that the banks agent or representative should be the one to eat these fees. Opinions?

I have already told the escrow company we are seeking legal counsel for the remaining balance!

Nowheretolive,

Wow, there's always something new we hear everyday. I though my seller was not the only one trying to sue a bank for bad lending practice. Anyway, mine was settled before closing.

In your case...your down payment was not used at all because you didn't close. So I would say you can only claim the inspection and appraisal if you paid these services. They may not be refunded, but you can try to ask your lender.

Charita King - Century 21 My Real Estate Co.
562-276-8681

$20,000 was the good faith deposit, $390 appraisal from Appraisers Pool chosen by the bank, and $495 home inspection. I still need to find out how long it will take to get back our $20K since we are ready to make an offer on another home this week. It seems no one on the bank's side has any timeline as to when we could expect our check. I was told there are no rules or regulations concerning how long it takes to refund this money and the agent representing the bank said that these rules were "being made up as we go along!" I don't understand why WFB's Asset Manager is considered an "untouchable" and no one seems to be able to get in touch with her and it seems strictly "forbidden" for me to even make contact with her! This entire process seems to absolutely ridiculous and these types of perils seem to make the real estate market doomed for buyers!

Was the $20,865 your funds to close, meaning your down payment or was the $20k just your good faith deposit?

emilyknell1@yahoo.com

Boy is there a lot we don't know here.

The first thing that occurs to me is that every bank counter offer or addendum that I have ever seen contains a provision that the Bank can cancel without any penalty if they ascertain that they can't transfer clear title. If the Bank canceled because of title issues they would have returned the Buyer's deposit like a hot potato.

Next any suit by the former owner would be for monetary damages not a rescission of the foreclosure so I don't see why they would cancel the sale to the new buyer. Legal action to stop the foreclosure would have almost always come BEFORE the foreclosure.

They might have an arbitration clause or mediation clause in their contract so they could check to see if there is a solution that wouldn't require court action. Since the amount of the deposit is well above small claims limits there isn't an inexpensive court remedy. In any event I would think that they would want to hire an attorney. A nice, threatening letter from an attorney may get them to release the deposit. Since interest on $20,000 for 4 weeks at current rates is roughly nothing I think they're crazy to mention it.

The above answer is credited to my broker Geoff McIntosh, I personally have never had this experience, my broker has worked with Wells Fargo REOs before & I wanted to get you the best possible answer.
His last sentence just means, if you go to an arbitration, don't expect to get 4-6wks worth of interest on your Earnest Money Deposit. Just get the $20k back.

*** There's a couple of homes in my neighborhood up for rent right now, in Rossmoor, let me know if you need phone numbers for the owner, explain your situation & see if they'll rent to you for short term.

emilyknell1@yahoo.com

Nowheretolive, I have only heard about horror stories such as yours. This has never happened to one of my clients.

You definitely need an attorney. You may want to begin at www,lawguru.com

I guess I was looking for statistics from agents on how many times have they seen something like this in today's volatile market. Everyone involved in our transaction including WFB Agent, escrow, and title company find this strange and have never seen this type of activity before.

Certainly a real estate attorney could give the the best advice. But the cost of the attorney may be much higher thatn what could be recovered. Get a free consultation and make that decision after you have more facts.

good morning.......first, i would begin looking for a new place to buy, as you have probably already done...i don't think you have much choice...also, find a good real estate attorney..(not a general practice atty.)...sounds like you have a great case, and have done nothing wrong......whether wells fargo committed illegal lending or not, isn't going to save the purchase for you, but it could easily get you damages, and a per-deim for the cost of camping out somewhere until you close the next deal....best of luck to you....bob mcclure- success mortgage partners- plymouth, michigan......

N
You need to have an attorney read the paperwork.

This is not legal advice because I am not an attorney. It seems to me that if you were within five days of closing that the Wells Fargo must have incurred some liability. In law it is called "performance". If you fulfilled your obligations to purchase the property, then, by the same standard, they are required to "perform" and convey title to you in exchange for the money.

The fact that the owner is suing Wells Fargo for loan practices may or may not preclude you from buying the home. I would think that the last thing Wells wants is more headaches.

In the scheme of things if you get your deposit back I'd be happy. The inspection and appraisal may be the cost of doing business. Know that attorneys are not cheap. Perhaps your Realtor's broker can help?

Thank you for your answers. Our agent, the properties agent, and the escrow company were all pushing the WFB Asset Manager to find out why the transaction was halted even though the title search came up clear and free of any holds on the property. We found a les pendens filed a year ago and I used that information to complete a database search of pending lawsuits. That is when I found that the former owner was involved in several lawsuits one pending filed March 30, 2009. If this lawsuit was still pending why would WFB even list the property. I understand they are within their rights to cancel and have accepted that fact. We requested that a cancellation process begin but we still need ALL are monies. We are now very financially strapped and every cent we have needs to be put towards a new purchase which means I definitely need to get back our down payment and fees refunded. We are told by people losing your fees is the price you pay for buying a house and I say that is B.S. because you shouldn't have to pay almost $1000.00 and receive nothing in return. We are seeking legal counsel but I don't want this to become the major issue since we still have no where to move.

Jeremy is on the mark. Recover your escrow money before confronting your other issues. Additionally, it may be to your advantage to confer with a real estate attorney on this. They may be able to save you money in the long run.

Good luck

Because of all of the addendums you most likely signed, the bank was probably still within their right to pull the plug at the last minute. Get your paperwork out and look it up to verify. Certainly get in contact with the escrow company, as they are the entity that wil dispurse your funds. Also, what is your agent saying? Did you remove all contingencies? What about the agent representing the bank, have they said anything? As far as interest on your deposit, thats not going to happen. I suggest working on getting your deposit back with escrow, and then going after the bank for all the fees. I hope your agent is fighting for you through all of this.

Good luck,
Jeremy Lehman
Century 21 Beachside
Jeremy@LehmanHomes.net