Help -- real estate lawyer problems
I have a little bit of a problem with my real estate attorney. It started with a verbal disagreement we had — I won’t go into too many details, but it was the result of him not making the appropriate phone calls in time, causing us to delay our closing because he realized we needed…
I have a little bit of a problem with my real estate attorney. It started with a verbal disagreement we had — I won’t go into too many details, but it was the result of him not making the appropriate phone calls in time, causing us to delay our closing because he realized we needed a document from us at 2:30 the day before the Jewish holiday when both my wife and I were working (we had until 4 to get him said document). Now I am beginning to question his ability when there are exactly 4 business days (that aren’t Jewish holidays — and all three lawyers involved are Jewish) until our last possible closing date and this title restriction is still not cleared up with the bank. If this somehow doesn’t go through, we risk losing an over $150,000 deposit we paid. What is my recourse? Can I get another lawyer to step in and take over? Would this just take longer and be less likely to help?
The biggest problem is that I work in the finance industry and don’t exactly have a lot of free time to deal with this right now because of work. I’d like to just trust my lawyer to get this done, but he has given me absolutely no reason to do this at this point.
Agree with above only to a point. What’s driving the deadline? Contract closing date? Time of the essence declaration? Mortgage lock? Some of these are easier to deal with than others. I do not believe it is the practice that a closing date stated in teh contract is a drop dead date. Usually, someone has to declare time of the essence. But I do not know your contract’s terms, and it is up to your lawyer to opine on the meaningfulness of deadlines in your contract.
If your lawyer is going to act like a “typical lawyer,” act like a typical client and act out the nervousness. Panicky buyers are nothing new, so you may as well use it to your advantage. Call, email (definitely email), text, etc. to express your fear about the deadline and that you are worried about losing the deposit due to his inattention. At some point, your lawyer will feel the need to reassure you that everything is under control and perhaps explain why he can give you that reassurance. And if you are greeted with silence, escalate your efforts in writing. If he is blowing it, the paper trail will make him think twice.
I wouldn’t get too worried, the vendor’s lawyers are probably Jewish too and they’ll sort this out after the holidays. When we were doing the contract on our purchase, the real estate broker was pushing us to sign quickly. Our lawyer told us that there is no rush, nobody will back out of a deal for the sake of a few days, especially in a slowing market.
cmu is correct… Justin, take a deep breath, all will work out… many of us were driven slightly batty as we approached our closings… not at all unusual.
On a happier note, good luck in your new home! 🙂
Another problem is that many lawyers have their paralegals or legal assistants do all the legwork for simple closings. Why should they bust their ass for a $2,000 fee for a deal that both parties are desperate to get done?
The lawyers that truly need the business will return your phone calls. The others just don’t care. At least that’s been my experience.
To make you feel better, we’ve had our last two closings postponed because lawyers on both sides mucking around. The last time it cost us half a point on our mortgage as our rate lock expired.
Take a few deep breaths and relax. This is quite normal in NY, unfortunately.
So far does not seem like your lawyer has done anything unethical, just being a procrastinator. Frankly, scheduling anything at all predicated on a specific closing date is, aaah…, silly. So many closings go overdue. And, also, you might consider taking a few days off to resolve the issues if it’s that critical.
Justinm – If it makes you feel any better, if the deal does fall apart and you lose your downpayment you will have an excellent case against him for malpractice and his malpractice insurance will likely reimburse you for your losses. Although this could take a year or more of legal rangling, you will eventually be made whole.
Yes. First time buyer. I would be fine if I weren’t tied to the ground with the way work is these last few weeks.
Whatever happened to customer service? What happens if I decide to not pay him everything we agreed on at closing because he didn’t live up to expectations?
That is assuming closing does happen… I’m sure he could be disbarred for letting his incompetence lose us 10% of the house though. That is the only thought that settles me.
no offense, justinm, but you sound like a first-time buyer. Not that your stress isn’t warranted, but this is just how real estate lawyers tend to behave — without much apparent regard for their clients. But, unless yours is really bad, they do tend to get it done. Your job is to stay on him…..these things always seem to have complications until the last possible moment….I’m sure it will work out. Just try not to get an ulcer in the process.
Right… point is that now we’re stuck with four business days to have the bank clear the title, assure the seller that we can close so they can buy plane tickets up here, and schedule a closing date.
Shouldn’t a better rule of thumb be that if you’re a lawyer and Jewish, you should make sure you get things done with ample time to spare around these holidays?
Also, when did it come to be that these lawyers will just “work it out” without involving their clients? Is it a product of the upfront agreed payment?
The major source of the disagreement I mentioned earlier is that not only are we running low on time, but that he unnecessarily cost us a weekend (this Friday versus now Monday at earliest), which is invaluable to us because we need to prepare the house for five contractors that are showing up as soon as we have it ready — something I can’t do during the work week. My lawyer didn’t even seem to care about this fact and did nothing to help us with this or even apologize that his late action caused us to lose this date. Is this just how real estate attorneys are? How can I trust him to fulfill his obligation to get this done in the next four days because of this?
Sorry if this is turning into a rant, but I think it brings up fundamental issues about recourse with real estate attorneys when there is a standard of agreeing upon fixed fees up front.