I received a call from a title company to do a sellers signing in NC. This would be my first sellers signing so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I get the documents and here is what I see.
It was a split signing. (haven’t done one yet). The husband and wife were selling their condo to their daughter. The husband was in North Carolina, and the daughter and mother were in California.
It was an out of state property. I understand I follow NC notary rules, but wasn’t sure if there would be any issues.
They said the mother/wife and daughter were signing on Friday, and the father/husband was signing on Saturday.
The documents I received had not been signed by the wife or daughter. I believe I would just cross their name out on the documents. Is that correct?
There were several documents that were not filled out. Many of which I haven’t seen before:
Statement of information - information about the parties involved - all blank. Not sure if they were supposed to fill out at the signing or if it should already have been filled out.
FITPTA form - has to do with a Foreign Investment in Real Estate Tax Act. Never seen or heard of this form. I’m assuming the parents may not be US citizens.
Real Estate Withholding Statement Form 593 not filled out, but requiring signatures.
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report - all blanks except for the property address and name of daughter at the top of the form, but requiring signatures.
The closing disclosure shows they owe $134,165 on the condo. They are selling it for $301,079. They are gifting $150,000 of the equity to the daughter listed in the disclosure. I goggled that it seems legit, but never heard of it before.
A Grant Deed form granting the property to the daughter. The only document I notarize says it is from the State of California. I assume I cross out California and put North Carolina. However, at the end it says I certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California. Not sure how to handles this.
I declined. I was in over my head. Does all this look normal?
First of all - kudos to you realizing you were in over your head - many would not admit it, would plow ahead and disaster ensues. But, I’d bet you could have handled it. I’ll try to address a few of your questions.
Yes you follow NC notary rules.
Only Issue I see would be witness requirements; check with title to clarify whether you need to get witnesses.
NO!! You have the husband sign where indicated, you complete the notary cert for him alone - the only place you cross out their names is if it’s in your notary cert - you never alter the docs…only your notary cert.
Statement of information - I’d have the husband fill out his info and sign - that’s it - this is a CA form and I’m guessing the wife and daughter received a duplicate original package to complete for themselves. The FITPTA and Withholding Statement are for IRS purposes - all Sellers have to complete these forms - it goes to capital gains taxes.
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report - I’m not familiar with this one - have husband look it over, fill out whatever applies to him and sign - no notarization on this? Don’t worry about blanks.
Perfectly legit and probably cleared with title prior to closing.
The Grant Deed: again, this goes to the witnesses - you need to know if witnesses are required for Grant Deeds wherever the property is located. Yes you’d change the venue to North Carolina. As to the “under penalty of perjury…” clause at the end that’s a California thing - here in FL I used to line through that and initial it - companies didn’t like that so it depends on whether it’s okay for you to leave that in there or not.
Bottom line - yes it all looks normal. You got a tricky one for your first - this is why we harp here about you really have to know your stuff to handle some of these…
The blank documents you referenced are generally standard and part of opening escrow and title here in California. I have been seeing SI’s come up a lot lately for any type of transaction and personally, that is something I would have completed at beginning of loan application process. I do not want to be accused of practicing without a license, so I will not say more on the three documents you referenced, except that the latter two have always been handled by escrow and I never inquired as to when they obtained those forms. But one form is for witholding 3%, (it used to be anyways), from a sale as required by law and sent to the state while the last form is for transferring title and determining who is assessed what in the process.
I hope that helps you, I came across a file with out of state acknowledgements and so I attached my own acknowledgements, referencing the documents and left it up to title or lender to decide if they really needed my notarization after all, or just someone to sign the borrowers. That way I did not hold it up waiting for a call back which was not forthcoming that day. The borrowers were signing here in California for a rental property they owned out of state.
all normal. usually documents just need to be completed but are not always neccesary.
you had a warranty deed
foreight investments
irs reporting form
pcor
etc
dont be intimidated, just read through it with the borrower and call with questions. I usually tell them when i have never seen a form before and let them know i will be learning today together. lol from what i have learned, most title companies dont even know most of these forms… they just know they need to be completed.
