Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Not if it is a condition required by the escrow.

Roach has got to be kidding, or he is a total idiot. How can you have an escrow for a sale of a home that DOESN'T require the seller ot sign the papers transferring title? For that matter, are you serious?

Mr. McCormick is extremely unprofessional, and it is obvious that he does not know what he is talking about. I read your question as asking whether escrow can close if you have not signed the papers transferring title. (This would be a deed, such as a grant deed, quitclaim deed, or interspousal transfer deed, assuming that you are the owner.) Thus my answer was no, not if signing title was a condition of the escrow.

What this means is that if you are on title to the house that is subject to the short sale, the escrow for the short sale would most likely have, as a condition for the escrow, you depositing a deed into the escrow. The only reason that it would not be a condition of escrow is that you are not on title. In some situations where one spouse holds title as separate property, or after a dissolution of marriage, the signature of the former spouse is not required, but most title companies and escrows will still require a quitclaim deed or interspousal transfer deed from the former or other spouse prior to closing escrow. They usually require this as an added assurance that the person receiving title gets title free from any claims of the other spouse, without having to refer to divorce records, that are not part of the grantor grantee index at the county recorder's office.

I have an extensive background and experience with title companies and escrows. If escrow closed without you signing title documents, and you are on title, then there may be the possibility that some forgery or fraud took place.

Again, I apologize for Mr. McCormick's insulting response, and his pedantic tirade, but the simple fact is, escrow cannot close if one of the conditions of the escrow is that you sign and deposit title transferring documents such as a deed.