Title Underwriters Agency was processing a sale transaction. The title report was completed and Andrew Wessels, Title Services Coordinator, was working on clearing title. The payoff demand was ordered and received. A homeowners' association statement had been requested and the property taxes were confirmed. Everything was progressing smoothly.

Andrew received an email from the listing agent asking for a copy of the payoff demand. The email stated the seller was questioning the amount due. Andrew emailed a copy of the payoff to the listing agent.

Later that same day the listing agent responded and included an attachment with an updated payoff amount, and stated this was the correct payoff letter. Andrew thought it was strange since the amount did not change, so he began to look everything over very closely.

The payoff demand was received via eFax^®. The seller's mortgage was with ABC Bank. Andrew compared the email address he had on file for the real estate agent to the email he just received and it was a match. He compared the two payoff demands side by side and noticed they did not match.

Andrew called the listing agent to confirm his suspicions were correct. The real estate agent neither sent over an updated payoff nor did he request a copy of the original payoff demand. Andrew urged the listing agent to change his email password and have his system scanned, since it appeared his email account had been compromised.

The file successfully closed, Andrew paid over $95,000 to ABC Bank and the satisfaction of mortgage was recorded. Not only did he save his company from a monetary loss, he also avoided a public relations nightmare.

Had Andrew simply sent the payoff funds per the altered demand, the seller would have most likely ended up with derogatory marks on his credit history for failure to make his mortgage payments. The buyer would have had a cloud on his title and the new lender would not be in first lien position. All resulting in unhappy customers and a mess to be cleaned up.

Stephanie Cannon, Closing Services Manager, remitted this story to recognize Andrew Wessels for protecting the Company. Way to go Andrew! We appreciate your efforts and attention to detail.

To assist her staff, Stephanie has established a database where they log payoff lender wire instructions. Now they check this database against new payoff demands before they send out a wire to pay off a mortgage.

Article provided by contributing author:
Diana Hoffman, Corporate Escrow Administrator
Fidelity National Title Group
National Escrow Administration