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This title company is either unbelievably corrupt or inept. When we closed on a house, the sellers insisted that Watson Title, FT Lauderdale be used to handle the closing. They were impossible to deal with. Each time our realtor and mortgage broker contacted them, they were informed that our file had been transferred to a different person, they were given the new person's voicemail and then their calls weren't returned. On the day we were supposed to close, the title company had not completed the paper work and we were informed that our closing would be delayed for an additional 5 days. The extended date for the closing was the day our mortgage rate was set to expire, so we had informed the title company that we had to close and another extension was not possible. They didn't complete the paperwork until 4:30pm on that date. In addition to the delay, when we got to the closing and were looking over the breakdown of our closing costs we saw that we were being charged FIVE TIMES the average rate for a closing. We of course complained and were told that it was too late to do anything about it that day because that office was closed, so we could either choose to pay the outrageous fee or not close that day and lose our interest rate. We closed vowing to tell everyone we knew how crooked they were. But the problems didn't end there. Three weeks after the closing we got a letter from our insurance company saying that our insurance was going to be cancelled because the title company had not forwarded the money for the premium we paid at the closing. We have called and been transferred to different voicemail boxes and of course our calls have not been answered. THIS COMPANY IS RIDICULOUSLY INEPT! DO NOT USE THEM!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The same is true of Florida Foreclosure Attorneys and Rick Felberbaum, They own their own title companies, do their own foreclosures, hold on to those deeds and wait for the reo sale to simultaneously close that transaction to record both deeds so that the past homeowners dues are negotiated violating Safe Harbor Statute. They have no right to negotiate these estoppels once the deed is taken out of the homeowners names that were foreclosed upon. The only people left holding the bag are the new owners, the title underwriters and the attorneys representing the homeowners associations. The lien search company should know and pay off the estoppels! Crooks as they live in mansions, drive fancy cars, etc. and have the audacity to do powwows. Crooks through and through.
I believe they have been charged in the robo-signing scandal, for forging titles for foreclosures. So yes, they are corrupt. But if you expect Florida to do anything about it you must be dreaming, our Governor is Rick Scott who ran a Medical company that was guilty of the biggest medicare fraud in history. No, there won't be any justice in Florida.
I have been curretly trying to get a QCD so that I can sign w/ my bank. Its been over a month now, they said they had a problem with the servicer...Does anyone know what their servicer is? they now said they escalated the QCD request to FNMA. But still waiting. How long should this process be? Whom can I contact that would help me with this? My bank already is waiting, and have had to file about 5 extensions, 2 of which b/c of this QCD.
BBBB1119@hotmail.com
I tried contacting the State Attorney General regarding my fiasco with Watson. Watson in various incarnations is HUGE in Florida. Big, big dollars. Guess what, the AG didn't do a damn thing with my complaint. I wonder why?
Like I originally posted, I contacted a private real estate attorney to attempt to file suit. She was very, very familiar with the infamous Watson Title and was upfront in letting me know that they are so entrenched in Florida that I would be wasting my time and money pursuing the matter.
Her suggestion was to threaten to file a complaint with the Florida Bar Association seeing as Watson also functions as a law office. This worked for me. Two days after I informed them of my intentions to file a formal complaint with the bar, I got my paperwork.
I will never again deal with WATSON in any manner or form.
I cannot believe I fell for the scam of Watson Title as well after reading all of these reviews! I absolutely agree that Watson Title has absolutely ruined my homebuying experience. I also had the experience of being forced to use them because I was purchasing a Fannie Mae home. Their rates were FIVE TIMES that of other title companies that I researched. They have NO CUSTOMER SERVICE skills and do NOT return phone calls or emails. It took me having to call every supervisor in the office on the DAY OF my closing for the processor to finally do anything. My rate lock and closing were going to expire that day and we had been trying to get everything done with them for weeks with no response. I would rate this company a 0 out of 100 stars. The worst part it, after I was able to get a hold of the supervisor, the processor called me back FINALLY from a blocked number to chew me out for contacting her boss! I informed her that if she would have just done her job in the first place, I wouldn't have had to go over her head. My poor realtor and lender got so fed up after leaving insane amounts of emails and voicemails, that they finally just admitted to me that they didn't know what else to do. And then my HUD was sent to Fannie Mae without my final approval and I ended up losing an extra $500 because they never gave me back the appraisal fee, which was to be taken out of seller concessions. This whole process has been a nightmare and I would warn anyone, DO NOT USE WATSON TITLE! You will lose so much money and will end up in tears on the day that is supposed to be so exciting for you!
Amber Schwier-DelVisco
bermisy@yahoo.com
I too had issues with WATSON TITLE INSURANCE INC. I won't go into details because it's more of what has already been posted. After speaking directly with Mr. Keith Bell at Fannie Mae, (listed above) he put me in contact with the City Director for FT Lauterdale, Mr. Rick Murphy
Rick Murphy
rick_w_murphy@fanniemae.com
Rick was able to tend to my issues immediately. I urge anyone having problems with WATSON TITLE INSURANCE to contact both Rick Murphy and Keith Bell. Perhaps they will reconsider dealing with WATSON in the future.
I will also be notifying the BBB.
Good luck!
Latest victim...Cash sale on a foreclosure owned by JP Morgan. We were supposed to close at the end of September. We were prepared for our move from Texas to Florida, I pulled my family out of school and ready to go.
Day of closing oops can't close, need more time, signed extension to the following week. Next week comes and Watson title will no longer answer realtors phone calls. Listing broker becomes middle man with title company and my broker. Listing broker says need to sign an extension till December but we should close soon. My realtor calls every week to get updates and Watson title doesn't respond with rhyme or reason why closing is taking so long. It's now 4 weeks past original closing date. My family has been living in Florida in the brokers house until we close. This broker has been the greatest and is doing all she can to help us. Our lifes are on hold until this transaction is complete. I can't sell my current house in Texas until I know I'm going to be able to move into the house in Florida. We are just looking for some clear communication as to why we aren't closing and when can we expect to close. The listing broker is now saying that we probably wont even close until after December.
Needless to say we are going to change title companies, Watson title was quick to let us know that were going to have to pay the sellers closing cost. BIG DEAL it's worth every penny to not have to deal with this company any longer. Now let's see if I have to obtain legal counsel to get my escrow money moved to the new title company. I will give them till the end of the week and then I will be contacting every person that I can to put pressure on this place to shut them down.
I am a Realtor and buyers agent as well. I have had the misfortune of dealing with this firm on three different occasions. Each experience was WORST than the last. Lost escrows, missed closing dates, lost files, disrespectful, no customer service, zero professionalism...zero credibility.
I’m sick of IT! Rather than go into my experiences with this FIRM. I have an email address to the TOP guy in FANNIE MAE here in FLORIDA. Maybe WE should drop him a line or two regarding FANNIE MAE's “PARTNERSHIP” with this firm.
Contact -
Keith Bell
Fannie Mae, Florida
Housing and Community Development
4000 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 755-S
Hollywood, Fl. 33021
[protected] (Office)
[protected] (Cell)
keith_a_bell@fanniemae.com
I can't believe that the house I wanted was forcing me to use Watson Title Co. so I rejected their counter offer, because they will not change title co. I wonder if the property owner new or if the realtor has dealings with this co.
I've got one even better...a full offer cash transaction that was approved and due to the fine people at Watson title, it took 15 days past the initial closing date of 30 days (45 total) only to find out that all the paperwork reflects the date of original closing as signed by seller so their excuses where just lies. In other words they have so much work that they just do not care about ANY transaction. And I find it courious how every document will be ready by the afternoon just before they close. This has been my 3rd interaction with them and everytime I see Watson, I try to forgo the credit and use my own company.
They flat out stink as a Title Company.
I wish that there was a way of having them removed or file a complaint with whomever gave them the contract to handle the Foreclosures.
I would never use them again nor would I recommend them to anyone.
WORST TITLE COMPANY AND LAW FIRM! BUYERS BEWARE BEFORE USUING WATSON.
I am a Realtor that has recently completed a transaction with Marshall Watson Title in Fort Lauderdale; they are the most incompetent title company I have ever be forced to use. They are also currently on probation with the state of Florida for steering buyers to use their services when buying foreclosed properties; it is Florida law that the buyer has the choice to use any title company they chose. I hope DBPR investigates them further, they make innocent buyers use their services when buying REO's when they are truly representing the sellers only.
Prior to my clients offer being accepted by the seller (Fannie mae), we needed to show proof of funds being deposited into Watson's escrow account. My client wired the funds on Tuesday before 10:00 am. The entire staff at Watson was unable to find this wire transfer for 4 days even after I emailed everyone the proof of funds. I finally had to get on the phone with the accountant at the law firm, and after speaking to 7 different people I finally got the escrow letter and forwarded it to the listing agent only to find out that they had the wrong buyers name on the letter! As there were multiple offers on this property we almost lost the deal because of Watson's incompetence and dealys.
After we were under contract I asked Watson for a breakdown of their fees so my client (buyer) could compare title companies. Come to find out Watson was about $1400 more expensive than the competition and had a huge amount of junk fees. My buyer decided to switch title companies after which they have gone out of their way to delay and disrupt our closing. My client finally closed but was delayed 2 weeks because of Watson title refused to do simple tasks. They were truly rotten because we switched title companies, and would not cooperate to the point where they almost became liable for my clients damages as we almost defaulted on our contract.
In my 6 years of practicing real estate I have never experienced such unprofessional and incompetent employees at a law firm or title company. I urge anyone thinking about buying an REO that is being represented by Watson title to think twice. Your deposit could be at risk. Use Caution.
I’m willing to bet the posts above this one were written by the fine staff at Watson pretending to be happy clients clients. No one that has ever dealt with this company would ever say that. A good exercise, call them at [protected] and ask a simple questions like "how much do you charge for title insurance, " you will get the runaround of your life trying to get a simple question answered. This will prove my point. I hope the state does something about the way they operate, they need to be shut down!
Mark C.
I closed on my house in Feb and I have to say that Watson Title was the only bright light associated with the process. My agent was very helpful and courteous and always returned my calls. I must say that its much easier to contact them via email but all in all I have no complaints at all about my experience with them. I would recommend them in a heartbeat.
I Just closed on my first time home last week and I luckly did not have the same issues as of you had. Which was good because my issues was with the bank and all of the paperwork that needed to be sent to the Watson title for closing. I can really say that they (Watson Title) were very fast at closing and I was constanly communicating via e-mail with the closing agent. She was very good in returning all of my e-mail very quickly. I am so glad I didn't have any issues because I was so afraid of closing after reading all of these complaints. I also had an attorney which I cc in all of my e- mail don't knw if that may a difference.
I can't believe all the posts here, it makes me sick to my stomach to know that the lives of my whole family rests on the shoulders of this company. My closing date has been pushed back three times already and we are still waiting to close. Me and my wife have three small children and our lease is up in five days. We have no place to go if Watson Title doesn't close soon. After the first time we were forced to push back closing we started calling everyone involved several times a day trying to get them everything they needed to close. Three weeks later me, my wife, my six year old, and my one year old twins are about to be put out on the street because of this company's incompetence. I cant say anymore about them than what has already been said. I can say however, that it is all true. If you think any of it is an exaggeration I can assure you it's not. I am concerned and somewhat disturbed by how old some of these posts are. And still nothing has been done to protect the public from them. Now my family is going to be their next victim. All of our money is tied up with this deal and we won't even be able to afford a hotel room after they finish raping us. I don't know what else I can do. We moved to Florida from Indiana a year ago so we have no family or friends here to take us in. How can this company or any place that does business like Watson Title be allowed to continue to do things like this to people.
Allen Bridwell, allenbridwell@hotmail.com
I'm a buyer's agent that sold a property several months ago. We were force fed Watson Title by the lender who was selling this property as a foreclosure. There were several problems with this transaction. The most egregious is that they charged the buyer for a title search that was never executed. Approximately 2 months after closing, the home owner association's attorney informed them that they were in arrears for the past owner"s assessments. The new owners of the property have been sending e-mails, certified letters and several calls to try to rectify this matter. To top it all off, one of their e-mail responses asked the owner if there is more than one association in the community. This goes to show that a proper search was never done. They had the same issue with the municipality regarding non-payment of water to the city, which took Watson Title almost three months to rectify. The owners are also still waiting to receive the closing documents. With more than 22 years in the real estate business, this company, by far is the worst I have ever seen.
Is this the Watson Title associated with Law Office of Marshall C Watson ?.. per the address ft lauderdal and 49th street believe it is. I am realtor attempting to close on a bank deal through them. My wife, lawyer, reviewed the closing documents and found that they are overcharging and charging for items that per contract/addendum were supposed to be paid by seller/bank not my client. Suspect lots of people have had this done. People should have there contract / addendum / HUD reviewed by lawyer. ABJ Realtor
I purchased a home is Florida December 8th, 2008. I live in another state so the closing was via Watson Title with all monies handled by them.
This was a cash deal so it wasn't complicated.
Bottom line is I was lucky in that they filed the deed with the county but I have not had ANY of the paperwork forwarded to me from Watson. This is despite numerous phone calls and e-mails from both my real estate and myself.
The only way I know they did file the deed is that my agent found it in public records and was able to get a copy from the registrar. Beyond that document, I have NONE of the closing documents.
Every call that does get answered ends in a promise to get my paperwork out the "next day". Yup Right!
I've contacted an attorney who stated that I should file a complaint with the Florida Bar Association seeing as they are a Law Office.
I will be filing a formal complaint and advise everyone who has been a victim of this outfit to do the same.
I completely agree with all of you. I also had a terrible experience with them. I asked them to correct my name on the contract and they stated it was not necessary but assured me that the Deed was going to be 100% correct. They were supposed to have handed me the Deed (Title) the same day we closed since it was a cash deal and it still took them two months and that is because I threatened them with a law sue. Furthermore, my name was incorrect in the Deed again. I have been trying to get them to correct it and it has been impossible.
Diabolical is all I can say about this company. They were holding a clients $179, 900 for ten days and would not release it when asked. It has caused the closing of my buyers a delay of over a week. You could not speak to a person, all you got was a machine. DO NOT USE THEM.
Dennis Pugsley
Realtor
I agree with the complaints posted, I had a closing with them Aug 25, 08, I could never reach anyone over the phone. There was no communication what so ever! I have bought and sold several houses, and never had a problem with a title company, until Watson Title. Last week, I called several times to request my owners Title policy From my closing (Aug 25, 08), and today I am still waiting for it. I should have had it 6 months ago! These people should not be in business! Why do the banks continue to use them?
I am a buyer that has experienced the same terrible service from Watson title. We are due to close tomorrow. My broker had confirmed with 4 Watson employees, today he was told that there wasn't a closing agent available and that they didn't really know where my file is. This delay could cost me hundreds of dollars. These people are absolutely the most inept individuals that I have ever worked with. I will be contacting the BBB TODAY!
I agree with the comments from all the other individuals. They are the worst Title Company and the state must take the action. I also suggest other individuals to put in the offer that this offer is only valid if the title company is any one but Watson Title. I think collectively, we as a consumer must notify the BBB and the Attorney General of FL of what a rotten company this is and why is it allowed to still operate
Mike Shah
I am a buyer's agent attempting to work with this, yes, very inept title company. Since this is now my third experience with the company, and thus far I have been unable to contact ANYONE there regarding our file, which is well over a week old, I am gathering any and all of the information I can regarding not only ethics and professionalism, but also just what the laws might be about title work--there must be regualtions, after all.
Horrible customer service aside, when a company fails to communicate, confirm, or respond to repeated attempts regarding thousands of dollars, there is a BIG problem!
I will return here to post my saga, which is also being blogged here:
http://livingintherealworld.activerain.com
I own an insurance agency and can second all the comments above this is the worst and most corrupt with the most horrible customer service that exist STAY AWAY if you want any sort of good home buying experience.
I'm in the process of buying a home, and like the original offer, the broker insisted on using Watson Title. I absolutely agree with the poor assessment of this company. They refuse to return calls, be it from me, my broker, or my Mortgage Company. The deal was supposed to close on the 24th. It's now the 21st, and I haven't heard back from Watson Title in over a month. I strongly urge anybody reading this to not do business with this company. I agree, the state should strip them of whatever licenses they currently hold. They are incompetent, inept, and unprofessional. I have no idea how the company is still in business.
They are the worst. The state should take away their license. Watson title sure didn't wait to take my money, that's for damn sure.
Im a Realtor, working with the buyers. I agree, they are the worst. Im now using gorrilla style tactics and faxing them every 30 minutes with a hand written letter stating a particular title agent needs to call me and that the listing agent and the survey company are trying to get a hold of her. I found this website trying to find every possible fax machine # linked to this company and I will do the same to them until she finally calls me back.