Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

No one has deed at closing-who's responsible

My partner and I own a house together. I bought him out and re-financed. I went to closing and a day later(after completing the closing process) lawyer doing closing can't find the signed deed that my ex-partner had signed over to me.(my partner had given it,(signed over) to the mortgage re-finance person two weeks previous. Now the lawyer tells me he can't disburse funds. Wasn't he responsible to have the deed at closing? Who was? Do I have recourse.Thank you for oyur help in this matter.

John


Asked on 3/16/02, 6:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Trant Law Office of Robert R. Trant

Re: No one has deed at closing-who's responsible

The short answer is to have your ex-partner execute another deed and give it to the closing attorney to be recorded. Your ex-partner should not have been paid any money until a signed deed was provided. The signed deed is what transfers his interest to you in exchange for money. It sounds like you were using proceeds from the re-financing to pay off your ex-partner. Did the refiancing lender pay the ex-partner? If so, they should have gotten a deed. The deed should have been at the closing but it is not essential since the transaction is not recorded at the Registry of Deed for at least 3 days since you have a right to rescind the transaction. The funds can only be distributed after the transaction has been recorded. The easiest solution is to have your ex-partner sign another deed. The deed could be drafted by the closing attorney.

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Answered on 3/16/02, 10:45 am


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