{"id":266,"date":"2010-07-02T14:46:57","date_gmt":"2010-07-02T14:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=266"},"modified":"2010-07-02T14:46:57","modified_gmt":"2010-07-02T14:46:57","slug":"frustrated-by-the-apparent-insourciance-of-massachusetts-mortgage-lenders-make-your-sales-agreements-bulletproof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=266","title":{"rendered":"Frustrated by the Apparent Insourciance of Massachusetts Mortgage Lenders- -Make your Sales Agreements “Bulletproof”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the near recent past, most real estate purchases in Massachusetts had one thing in common. They closed on or before the date set for closing in the sales agreement.<\/strong>\u00a0 The writer, a Massachusetts title attorney with more than forty years of experience, has recently seen a departure from that truism. Loans are now closing, when the Lender is ready, and that may well be after the specified date in the\u00a0sales agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally, when I have represented Buyers, I can get by this delay because I am working with fellow professionals who have been on my side of the fence in other matters, and they are sympathetic. We enter into extensions to permit delayed closings. I cannot really count on this goodwill every time I represent a Buyer. I , therefore, approach the problem frontally and insist on some protections in the sales agreement which are designed to lessen the stress when the Massachusetts Mortgage Lender insists that the loan is not “clear to close” because the third appraisal review has not been completed, and Martha is on vacation, and she will not be able to get to it until next Tuesday. (Your scheduled closing date is next Monday!!!)<\/p>\n

So with this knowledge in hand I work hard to insure that the following provisions are in my Buyer representation\u00a0sales agreements:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. The Mortgage Contingency Clause.<\/strong> I insist that the mortgage commitment be “in writing” and does not contain “any terms or conditions which are beyond the Borrower’s ability to fulfill in a reasonable time” I now am insisting that the appraisal which is the basis for the mortgage commitment “indicate a value equal to or greater than the purchase price.” The appraisal piece is becoming much more important with the new appraisal rules. I say to the other side, “Look, we all entered into deal\u00a0this in good faith, but if we are wrong about the appraised value, we can not go through with the deal”. In these days, this seems to work.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. Delay Protection Provision<\/strong>. Getting a solid mortgage contingency provision helps, but it does not deal with the internal idiosyncracies concerning the understaffed Mortgage Lender. So, even after I make the mortgage contingency provision have some teeth, I\u00a0 also insist on a provision as follows; “The parties agree to extend the deate of closing for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) buisiness\u00a0days if the delay is caused by Buyer’s Mortgage Lender. or the Seller”.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3. November 30, 2009.<\/strong> I have also recently been putting in a\u00a0provision that if the Lender’s, or Seller’s delay causes the transaction not to close on or before November 30, 2009, the parties agree that the purchase price will be\u00a0reduced by $8,000. This may seem harsh, but that closing cost credit would appear to be vanishing on December 1, 2009, and I want my client protected. I am not always successful in getting this provision accepted, and I do allow\u00a0 the clause not to take effect if the Buyer Tax Credit is extended.<\/p>\n

These are my suggestions. I would welcome yours. Masschuseets Mortgage Lenders are understaffed. They are working on short sales and modifications. They fail to grasp what “time is of the essence” means. We need to think ahead to protect our clients and customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the near recent past, most real estate purchases in Massachusetts had one thing in common. They closed on or before the date set for closing in the sales agreement.\u00a0 The writer, a Massachusetts title attorney with more than forty years of experience, has recently seen a departure from that truism. Loans are now closing, … Continue reading Frustrated by the Apparent Insourciance of Massachusetts Mortgage Lenders- -Make your Sales Agreements “Bulletproof”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40,29],"tags":[11,178,180,179],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-closing","category-mortgages","tag-closings","tag-mortgage-contingecy-clauses","tag-mortgage-lender-delay","tag-sales-agreement-provisions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":177,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=177","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":0},"title":"The Blase Mortgage Lender–How Much Longer Can we Put Up with This?","date":"June 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I was representing a young couple buying their first home with an FHA mortgage. The Purchase and Sale Agreement was signed in early March. The closing was set forth for late April. Plenty of time for the Lender. The written mortgage commitment issued in late March with standard conditions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "closing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=321","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":1},"title":"Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures–Some “Amplifications” in Your Purchase Agreements which can Save Your Deals","date":"July 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Massachusetts, where I practice real estate law,\u00a0is not experiencing the suffering\u00a0as hard as other areas of the country. Perhaps, that can be put a little differently. Massachusetts was one of the first states to get hit by the real estate slowdown. Because of that fact, we may be ahead of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"purchase and sale agreement provisions\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=292","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":2},"title":"Post-Closing Checklists–The work is not done until it is done","date":"July 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As a Massachusetts real estate attorney, my role in the closing is different from attorneys in almost every other state. Not only do I conduct the closing, and attempt to explain matters to the parties involved while I am doing same, my firm also researches the title, writes the title\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "closing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=138","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":3},"title":"Massachusetts Real Estate Transactions-A world of their own","date":"June 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am frequently asked by out of state realtors and mortgage professionals about deals \"going into escrow\" or the work of the \"title company.\" Very few out of Massachusetts people are aware of the idiosyncrasies of Massachusetts real estate practice, which include the following: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. An Offer and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":196,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=196","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":4},"title":"Adjustments at Closing-Information for you to help your customers","date":"June 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As a Massachusetts title attorney with more than 40 years experience, I have handled more than 20,000 real estate closings. While there have been many changes in the industry over the course of my career, there are still some basic concepts that have remained constant. There follows a primer on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "closing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=136","url_meta":{"origin":266,"position":5},"title":"Short Sales and You","date":"June 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Short sales are a natural outgrowth of the recession we have been living through. People have lost jobs or become ill at the same time as the equity in their homes has been eroding. They have fallen behind in their payment or payments, yet even when they make the intelligent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Condominium"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":755,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}