Q: I did not sign anything at settlement when I bought my home. Is this legal?
A: You should of at least signed a settlement statement. I assume you paid cash otherwise you would have signed mortgage documents. As long as you received a deed that is recordable & transfers the property in the manner you wanted as well as having some written assurance that the person transferring ownership was the rightful owner ( title insurance usually does this), then you should be ‘ok’. To be 100% sure, consult with a Real Estate attorney.
Followup : What really happened was that I was looking at a home in the mountains of North Carolina and I found the perfect home for me. I asked the Real Estate agent if N.C. had a deed where my son get’s the property if I die without having to pay taxes on it. That is all said to him. Next day I returned to sign the sales contract and my son’s name was on the contract. I refused to sign the contract with my son’s name on it. The Real Estate agent said that this will void your sale. She says we will contact the attorney to tell him of this problem. She assured me that the attorney would call me. He never did. I called him 3 times to let him know that I did not want my son’s name on the deed and that I would not sign any papers at settlement if it was. I never got any settlement papers to sign and I could not go to settlement since I had lost my right leg in a accident and since I had been off of work for 2.5 months because of it my employer would not give a couple days to go to settlement. 3 days before settlement the closing attorney called me telling me I had to wire the money for closing since I was paying cash for the home. I said, did you get the message that I did want my son’s name on the deed. His comment: yes, Mr. Larrick, everything is the way you want it. I said don’t I sign anything, he said I didn’t have to. 3 weeks later I got the closing papers and my son was 50% owner. My son moved in and trashed the house, sold illegal drugs. I went to court and the Superior court judge gave my son a life estate. I said what does that mean and my attorney (a different one) said it means you have full rights to the home. Can I sell it or take a loan on it and the attorney said yes. That was all a lie. He even promised to make a new deed out for me which was totally bull. I am disabled so I can’t work and my son has taken almost all my money. I saw a attorney last week in NC and his comment was that I had to go to U.S. courts to get justice because no one in NC would give it to me.
Reply To Followup : You are on the right (although frustrating ) track. Keep talking with attorney’s initial you are comfortable with the direction they will take you. At least make sure that you understand everything that has & is going on.
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