In the past few years, foreclosures have dominated the California housing market. The banks that own these properties have been forcing homebuyers to use bank approved escrow and title companies rather than having an option. This practice has created higher closing costs for the buyer as well as additional inconvenience as these companies are often located in other towns. Additionally, local businesses lose business and revenue to these out of area companies. The Buyer’s Choice Act puts the options back into the homebuyer’s hands where it belongs and potentially revenue back into the communities where it belongs.
Allowing Banks to dictate which companies a homebuyer uses has raised potential ethical concerns. Escrow Companies are supposed to be a neutral third party, carrying out instructions from both the seller and the buyers. The title insurance policy insures title for the buyers. When such a large part of their business comes from a specific bank, it is questionable how fair the companies can or will be. Thankfully, the Buyer’s Choice Act eliminates this concern by giving California homebuyers the choice.
California Assembly Member Cathleen Galgiani who sponsored the bill, said, "Homebuyers should have every right to choose their title, escrow and real estate service providers based on price and quality of service.” The Buyer’s Choice Act ensures that buyers have options or choices, rather than getting forced to serve the financial interests of some bank.
The passing of the Buyer’s Choice Act is definitely a positive sign for California homebuyers. Next it would be nice to see legislation that requires the banks to accept the appraised price of the property versus forcing homebuyers to pay the difference...
For more information regarding the California Buyer’s Choice Act go to www.escrowinstitute.org.
Written by Andee Allen Nast. Andee is freelance writer, Real Estate Investor, Coach/Consultant, and California Realtor (License #01854926). You are welcome to contact Andee at andeeallen@gmail.com or on her website www.andeeallen.com or http://www.strategicmediacoach.com/
Posted October 15th, 2009 by andeallen
