Unread email caused 2 week delay and $1200 additional in unexpected expenses

**sman** · 01-25-2011, 07:28 PM

I am looking for some advice here. We are buying our first house and we are set to close on Thursday! The problem is that we were supposed to close in December, but because the mortgage company sent an email to my real estate agent on dec. 15, and she did not open the email until dec. 28, we are just now stepping up to closing.

A little background here, we needed to close by the new year because our lease was expiring, and our apartment complex had already leased our apartment. Everyone knew about the time crunch and our lender and agent both said that they could meet the deadline. The email that our agent didn't open was a form that had to be sent to the seller to sign. We were notified on the 28th of December abou this hold up, that we knew nothing about! We were forced to move in with family, around 50 miles from our jobs and new home. We had to rent an additional moving truck and a storage unit, plus two hour commutes for both of us, one way. We have been hit with bad weather, that also cost us a week of underwriting time, along with all of the holidays.

My questions are these:
Who do we hold responsible for this?
- the agent? Who should have checked her email?
- the lender? Who never followed up?
- us? Who never knew about the issue until the last minute?
When do we bring up that we want someone to take financial responsibility for the $1,200+ worth of expenses that we have accrued?
- do we write a letter and give it to them after we close?
- do we discuss it during closing?
- do we discuss it before closing? If we do this, can they pull out of the loan?

We are not litigious people, we just want what is fair, as we feel that we have been displaced and burdened by the lack of communication that was displayed.

Any advice?
First Time Home Buyer

**Greg** · 01-26-2011, 06:59 AM

When something that is very important needs to be communicated then email is NOT the way to go. Emails routinely get lost in cyberspace and spam filters.

A phone call would have confirmed receipt of the message.

You have cause to go after the lender, the real estate agent and yourself because all of you collectively dropped the ball.

In order of hierarchy, you are at the top of the list because this deal meant the most to you yet you just sat back and let things happen instead of staying on top of your loan. You would have known about the form if you had been on the phone with your lender getting updates.

Next on the list is the lender who sent out an important email and then forgot about it for 2 weeks. Don't they have a phone in their office. what if the agent was on vacation for 2 weeks?

Personally, I get roughly 600 emails a day, most of which are spams. There is no way I can take responsibility for missing an important email.

If it is important, pick up the phone.

**sman** · 01-26-2011, 07:27 AM

I was not copied on the email. I didn't know anything was holdin us up. When I talked to both the lender and the agent on dec. 22, they told me everything was fine and on track. Had I known about this email and the form it contained, I would have been kicking and screaming about it getting done!

When should I approach these folks about resolving this?

Thanks Greg for a quick response!