horrible closing experience, unethical attorney?
yesterday i closed, finally and 24 hours later i have nothing but absolute bitterness about how it went down. long story short….the coop attorney, (the attoney representing the coop i was buying into) pretty much extorted an extra 250.00 out of me, threatening me that unless i paid the money (because the closing went on…
yesterday i closed, finally and 24 hours later i have nothing but absolute bitterness about how it went down. long story short….the coop attorney, (the attoney representing the coop i was buying into) pretty much extorted an extra 250.00 out of me, threatening me that unless i paid the money (because the closing went on too long, it took 3 hours) they would not finalize the sale. this is after , AFTER i paid their fee.
my attorney was incredulous and the bank attorney looked at them like they were crazy.
in the end i wrote the check because wtf was i to do? i already paid so many fees and application fees to get to this point and in the last minute all of sudden their is an extra 250.00, it really is not about the money, but the principle.
i cannot believe this, i totally understand that in closing there will be so many charges and fees, but this was blatant extortion. if they told me going in that there was a time limit thats one thing, but this really made me upset and even though i have possesion, i’m still pretty heated about this.
just wanted to get some ideas what to do, i’m going to contact the NY Bar and will stop the check (hopefully) in any case. I will definitely share the name of this law practice soon.
Anonymous 1:31AM, you have issues that go deeper than having a problem with having paid fees that you weren’t expecting to pay at closing…
If you are to be believed, your way of dealing with perceived problems is very troublesome…
glad that you don’t live in my co-op… what a neighbor you must be, especially if things don’t go just your way.
But again, your posting sounds like the stuff of fantasy.
Can people please post without using profane language? What has happened to civil discourse? Are we mature adults or gutter-mouth kids?
OP–had the SAME experience but it cost me $750. I did the same thing…just paid it and was resentful as hell. BUT…just wait–and get on the board. And when you do–kick his/her fucking ass around. Run him/her ragged. Call his/her ass ALL THE TIME. Then threaten to fire him/her. I did it. Some say revenge is hollow. Not for me in this case.
In the end—he asked what my problem was. I told him. He gave me my money back. Found out he pulled the same shit with another buyer. Got the board to fire him.
And 3 am Eternal–what’s up with you being all Zen and reasonable? No post about architects getting screwed you can whine on about? Surely you have some asshole “you get what you pay for” comment to post SOMEWHERE?
Tipping the title person???? You’re kidding. I didn’t do this at my coop closing eight years ago. Is this a new trend?
Like where? Can you be more specifc?
I have purchased property in places where it is not expected–Los Angeles, Tucson, Phoenix, Denver and Boston. The only time I have ever been expected to tip the title person is here.
You’re wrong, tipping the closer is not exclusive to brooklyn at all, it is customary in many locations.
I cannot see how the OP was rude. (S)he is entitled to an opinion about how things went down, and based on the story, WTF and calling it a mugging is reasonable.
Real estate in this city never ceases to amaze me. I know the buyer is spending a lot of money, but does that have to enable all these parasitic little Brooklyn real estate traditions–from tipping the title guy to getting the buyer to pay the Co-op’s lawyer to then getting suckered into extra fees for that lawyer doing their job?
In other cities, this kind of stuff is labelled “extortive”, and anyone telling a story about it certainly wouldn’t be called “rude” or “excitable.”
No I don’t think op was rude, or wrong to feel taken advantage of. This is something that should have been negotiated up front a) that there might be a time limit, and b) who pays. Imho, the seller should pay the coop’s attorney, but nobody asked me. This is just one reason why I would never, ever, well hardly ever, own a coop, but nobody asked me that either. As for 3 hours being long, not.
John definitely has the right idea: aside from pursuing it with the nys bar, go to a board meeting and bring it up. Maybe you’re not the first coop member to experience this. Get on the board. Make a motion to replace the firm.
to anon above, and others, everyone was on time btw
and maybe the expression wtf is harsh but its exactly how i felt
and “mugged by people in suits” is exactly how it went down.
everything about the closing went pretty smooth, they just came in after everything was signed and said this closing took too long and we need 250.00 or else