STEWART TITLE CO

My involvement with Stewart Title is ancillary to the involvement of other parties: My daughter owned a home in Albuquerque which she sold this past October. She had been living out of state for sometime. I am her mother and my husband is her father. Because we do live in Albuquerque, we often times were involved in the sale process simply because we were present and our daughter could not be. My first hand experience with Stewart Title is as follows: In my daughter's stead, I was responsible for handing house keys, mail box key, garage door opener and a letter of essential information to the Title Company to be transferred to the buyer of the property upon closing of the sale. I placed those items in an envelope, marked with the address of the house in question, and delivered same to Stewart Title on October 18, 2012. I told the receptionist at Stewart Title that I was delivery items for closing on a property, explained that I was not the owner in question, that I was a third party, and, as such, required a receipt. She took the envelope and asked me to wait. I did. Some minutes later she returned with a sheet of paper that was a poor photocopy of the ring of keys and the door opener. The paper was not letterhead from Stewart Title. No attempt had been made to identify the items photocopied as to the property address in question. In the lower left corner there was stamped image saying, "Receipt of the enclosed is hereby acknowledged By: with the signature of Sandi McKillen ( sp?), the date and the time." Since there was nothing to identify the company or the items, I asked the receptionist to write on the paper something to identify by title who the person was that had signed the stamped area. She did and she added her own initials. I am not criticizing the receptionist but I am really questioning the professionalism of Stewart Title. That receipt was an example of lazy, sloppy, indifferent work and if such work is typical of Stewart Title, they have little respect for the sellers and buyers that use their services. I would also point out that many buyers and sellers do not have a preference as to Title Company. The choice is often made by the listing real estate agent. To the extent the agent(s) favors one company over another, they, too, are responsible for the calibre of work done by the title company in question. The following comment comes from my daughter and you should confirm with her. She belongs to Angie's List in the Portland, Oregon area: She said she only had one conversation with the assistant to the closing officer assigned to her sale; however, the assistant indicated several conversations had taken place. The question of communications between client and company arose because, as I understand it, certain closing papers were not forwarded to my daughter in a timely manner from Stewart Title and, as a result, my daughter incurred additional expenses connected to the property closing that could have been avoided if Stewart Title had been on the ball. Signed, Deborah J. Toth