Post closing: What happens after settlement?
Closing is over, you have purchased your dream house and now you are done working with the title company. However, the title company is not done working for you. As much work goes into post-closing as pre-closing.
When the closing is completed, the file goes to the post closing department. The first step is to prepare the recording package and send it to the Land Records Office for recording. Most files are recorded without trouble, but occasionally recordings are rejected and need to be corrected and resubmitted.
Eventually, after the recording process is complete, the original Deed and Deed of Trust are returned to post closing, which in turn forwards the original Deed to the new homeowner and the original Deed of Trust to the lending bank. Depending on the jurisdiction, this could take up to six months.
Post-closing is also responsible for paying off the existing mortgages and/or judgments on the property, obtaining releases for the liens associated with those mortgages and/or judgments and recording said releases in the Land Records Office.
Since the purchaser has obtained a title insurance policy, the purchase is protected whether or not those liens are properly released, but since the title company has issued the insurance and provided a commitment to the bank that those liens will be released, the title company is responsible for making sure that they are in fact released.
The post-closing team also handles obtaining and paying the final water bill. This is the title company’s responsibility since an unpaid water bill creates a lien on the property.
Also, any home owner’s association or condominium dues collected at settlement are submitted to the home owner’s association or condominium association along with a copy of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.
Some other duties of post closing include: maintaining and disbursing repair escrows, maintaining and disbursing post settlement occupancy security deposits, returning signed original documents to the lender and answering and resolving all potential post closing issues or questions.
So, as you can see, post closing is still working for you long after you are moved in and enjoying your new property. Our post-closing manager is Dedra Roberts, and she will be happy to assist you with any post-closing questions or issues.
Deborah Bazzy
I closed and moved into a new home in March, 2016. Two months later, the lending agents and there attorney are now hounding me to sign a document that THEY missed at closing. I was not happy with their handling of the entire process, and was glad to be through with them. Am I obligated to sign anymore of their documents? They are threatening to rewrite the appraisal I paid over $400 for.
nancy
we closed a month ago and now the mortgage co. is hounding us about where a certain deposit came from. Can they do that, hound us after we have already closed? why have they not caught this issue if it were an issue and asked about this deposit before hand. Do i have to respond?
webmaster
Thanks for your question, Nancy. The short answer is, yes, you should respond.
Most lenders have their borrowers sign a compliance agreement stating they will comply with any requests from the lender post-settlement. And by virtue of asking, the lender requires this information. Borrowers also typically sign a quality control notification stating they (the borrowers) understand the lender may conduct an audit for compliance purposes and ask for additional information.
Mark
If you amend your tax return 10 months after closing, do you send a copy to the bank?
Thank you
Mark
Nikki
Hi Mark,
You should speak with a CPA or a tax attorney to help you further.
Thanks,
Nikki
Tina
I’m the seller and we closed 6 weeks ago. Now the title company us coming back asking for money on a warranty that the bell wanted. It was to be up to $500. We were told it was over looked. Do we need to pay for this? We all agreed on the paperwork And signed and now you ask about it? And the title company wants us to pay! Is this legal?
Nikki
Hi there,
At closing, the title company typically has the parties sign an Errors and Omissions/Compliance Agreement. In that document, all parties agree to correct any errors. If it was previously agreed to and missed at closing, then it should not be a problem.
Hope this helps!