Signing the contract

I don’t mean to get off on a rant here, but this particular situation is causing a bit of concern and that concern directly affects my wallet. The home-selling home-buying transaction is driven by a settlement statement that itemizes the transfer of money. The fees itemized are largely understood only by those in the industry. As I browse through this list of numbers, my ignorance of the process makes me unable to determine whether the numbers or accurate or not. But hey, why the concern? These people are professionals, right?

In the past 3 days, I have encountered 2 errors on 2 separate settlement statements. The first error impacted me to the tune of a couple thousand dollars. The title company caught the error just prior to our closing transaction. The second error impacted me by only $250; I caught the error myself. It was one of the few numbers whose meaning I actually understood and I was easily able to determine that it was incorrect. We’re batting 1000 on the incorrect settlement statement preparation average. Doesn’t instill a lot of confidence.

This quality control track record is not exactly wonderful. It gives me pause to consider whether there are other fees charged in my column incorrectly, but just not identified by anyone responsible for double or triple checking? The fact that I don’t buy or sell a house every day makes me nervous enough, but layering on the accounting mistakes I am witnessing in the transaction just magnifies this stress.

For better or worse, it will all be over at 1pm Monday.