On 21 Aug 2003 17:47:38 GMT, RPC wrote:

Hi. We're closing on Monday morning, but I have no final closing amount
(today is Thursday). My lawyer says sometimes the numbers aren't
available until the closing. I believe this is not legal, the HUD-1 has
to be sent out at least one working day in advance, but what am I going
to do, refuse to close? I'd get a new lawyer if I thought anyone was any
better.


We didn't get the final closing amount (the amount of the check we
were to bring to the closing table) until we got a phone call in the
car while on our way to the lawyer's office where the closing was to
take place!

We were paying all cash with no financing involved and both the
builder's administrative person and the para legal at the lawyer's
office had problems because there were no forms involved with
information that were usually prepared by the lender - we had no
lender, hence no forms and no information!

To further complicate matters the number we got was wrong. There were
additional costs and credits for changes made between the time
construction began and the CO was issued - among the changes were
things that were required to be done by the local code enforcement
officer the morning of the closing relating to the interpretation of
what constituted a counter vs a peninsular and the potential need for
additional electric service with locations in the kitchen and the
adjoining family room (needless to say the decision made required
additional work by an electrician0. We were expected to bring a
certified cashiers check for the payment of the difference between
moneys already paid and held in escrow for the closing and the total
cost of the house. We had more than enough to cover the amount that
would be required in our personal checking account at a bank in th
location where we were buying the house but because a certified
cashier's check was required for a supposed "exact" amount we had to
stop at the bank en route to the lawyers to obtain the check -
complicating matters were was the fact that the closing was taking
place at 6:00 PM on New Years Eve!