RHK1's Advice

Ed,Yes, That is correct.  our FHA loan was canceled due to un permitted structural remodel that could not be remedied in time to close.  Escrow opened on 11/10.  The underwriter asked for the TDS on 11/24  my agent and LO knew there would be a problem because of what my agent wrote in sec IV agents disclosures.  On 11/30 the underwriter asked for termite and roof inspection reports and to have the appraiser investigate the un permitted work.  On 12/1 my agent sends me a 24 hr. NBP to sign the contingencies and on 12/3 my agent calls the escrow to cancel.  At 3:06pm last Friday I get a in house form to sign canceling the escrow and charging me $ 1,000.00 and now no body seems to know when or if the sellers will sing the cancellation releasing the rest of my 5k deposit.  Nice huh?

Latest update to my situation is that the escrow is officially canceled.  I have pleaded with the escrow company about the reducing the $ 1,000.00 escrow cancellation fee, they will not budge.  There are doc fees of $ 75.00 for the assoc. to Lake MV on top of that.  My agent is mad because I canceled and is not helping.  The broker is telling me that I caused a lot of people to loose money and now the poor sellers may loose their house to foreclosure.  I have not seen any C.A.R. form CC, canceling the sales contract.  Is that necessary to get my deposit back?  Now I'm being told the seller may not sign the cancellation which will tie up my deposit money for who knows how long.  What is a first time home buyer to do?  I got pushed around for months during the negotiation of this short sale and conceded to everything they wanted.  The sellers had a lawyer negotiating the short sale and a very experienced listing agent.  I had what appears to be a very inexperienced agent from the same office and a broker for both who just want the deal closed any any cost to me.  I just got mowed over.  When I finally stood up for myself and refused to sign off on the contingencies, they tanked the deal.  WOW!

As it turns out,  the escrow company and the listing brokerage are related.I saw in the escrow instructions that the president of both companies share the same president.  also my buyers agent is out of the same office as the listing agent.  This was presented to us as a favorable thing.  I might as well have been buying from the listing agent.  My own agent tanked my loan by putting stuff about termite reports and un permitted structural remodel in the TDS, knowing the underwriter was calling for the TDS she refused to modify, now my loan has tanked and they are scraping our offer in favor of a cash deal.  We have been working on this short sale for over 6 months and these people have trashed us.

I have never spoken to the escrow officer.  They always have some other staff person talk to me.  They say that most of the processing of the file has already been done.  They do have a "minimum cancellation fee" written into the escrow instructions.  When I called them on this they say that it is the minimum, not the maximum they will charge.  How can most of the processing of the file be done in 7 or 8 working days.  Like I said, they didnt even receive or process loan docs let alone transfer fund or title.  How can they get away with this.  My agent is not backing me up on this...

After 2 weeks into escrow and before loan docs are received.  Our escrow is canceled and the escrow company is charging $ 1,000.00.  the only thing I can see that escrow has done so far is send out the escrow instructions and CC&Rs from the Lake membership which are free from the title co..  The whole escrow fee was only $ 1,130.00.  How can they get away with charging this kind of fee if escrow does not close?

I have a question about what is required of the buyers agent  to disclose on the C.A.R. TDS.Section IV of the TDS states "Based on a reasonably competent diligent visual inspection of the accessible areas of the property, states the following"If the agent knows I have a termite and roof report that shows repairs needed and that I called the city and found out that the property has a kitchen remodel including the removal of a load bearing wall and doesn't have permits, are they required by law or ethics to disclose this information?  Even though the seller and seller's agent doesn't disclose this information?The agents has no first hand knowledge of this information and it has nothing to do with a visual inspection. Why would they want to write this into the TDS?Especially knowing that the underwriter will very likely call to see the TDS.BTW,This is a FHA loan on a short sale.  The appraisal came back clean.  No mention of termite, roof or remodel.

To further clarify my situation, it was comments in  my buyers agents disclosure that triggered the underwriters contingencies.  My agent knew I had already obtained a termite and roof inspection and that I had called the city and found that the permits had expired.  She wrote this into the agents disclosure portion of the TDS.  The FHA underwriter asked for the TDS, then after review, called for the appraiser to investigate the remodel and the permits, but also ask for the termite report and roof inspection report.  Since it appeared that the permit situation could not be remedied, our loan canceled.  At this point I refused to sign off on the 17 day contingency and the sellers agent has now canceled the contract and re listed the house.  Leaving me with $ 2,200.00 in expenses and has hinted that the sellers will not likely sign off on the escrow cancellation holding my good faith deposit hostage.  WOW, what an experience

Is it proper or even legal to re list a house that is still under contract and 1/2 way through escrow?

What would be the procedure for underwriting to sign off on a FHA loan for a property that is known to have un permitted structural remodel.  Specifically a kitchen remodel 8 years ago that a load bearing wall was removed.  Initial permits were pulled, rough inspection for plumbing and electrical was done but no structural inspection and no final inspection.  Permits have expired long ago.The underwriter wants the appraiser to go back out to investigate the remodel.  How can this be remedied?

I am buying a short sale property in OC California.  My FHA lender has approved our loan but asked for a copy of the TDS (Transfer Disclosure Statement)  In the TDS there is mention of a kitchen remodel that was done without proper permits.  This is an issue that can not be remedied within the escrow time frame.Is this common for a lender to ask to see the TDS?