Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

It is 'always' a problem getting escrow closed, timely or at all; especially in today's terrible market. She needs to have her agent keep the pressure on to close. But there is nothing she can do to force someone else's lender to perform. There is no guarantee the loan will ever fund. If it doesn't, the deal falls apart and she ends up with an empty house needing to be re-listed and re-sold. Owners should never move before escrow closes. If she ends up needing an attorney to help in this, and if it is in SoCal, feel free to contact me.

10 bucks says the entire deal is "contingent" on financing. That means if the buyer fails to obtain a loan, she is Short On Luck.

So, ask your aunt whether there are any unremoved contingencies in the purchase agreement. An "okay" on a loan is usually, by the way, "subject to" the lender's numerous requirements for feeling comfortable with everything immediately prior to forking over the bucks, which may depend on which side of the bed the lending officer got out of that morning, or what scary story he read in the Wall Stree Journal about interest rate trends, inflation, the Euro versus the buck, or you-name-it. Commitments to lend are final when the money is wired to escrow with no strings attached.