★★★★★
TL;DR: We were required to use University Title Company (UTC) unless we paid for a different title company ourselves. The seller's daughter (acting under power of attorney) was the former president of UTC, which was not disclosed to us. After the deal terminated, UTC required inspection receipts not required by the contract before releasing earnest money. After we provided them, the seller's agent contacted our inspector attempting to obtain our inspection report.
In a recent home purchase transaction, the seller required using UTC unless we wanted to pay for a different title company ourselves. We later learned that the seller's daughter, acting under power of attorney for the seller, was the former president of UTC. This relationship was not disclosed to us by either the seller or UTC; we only learned about it later and were told she had retired and was no longer affiliated. The deal terminated during the option period, so UTC was responsible for returning our earnest money.
When we requested the release of the earnest money, UTC stated they required inspection receipts. This requirement was not mentioned at any point beforehand and was only raised after we asked for the money to be released. They first said this requirement was in the contract (it was not), then said it was company policy, and that the seller required it to sign the release. During this time, our realtor emailed UTC asking for clarification about the escrow release process and received no response.
We reluctantly provided the receipts.
Afterward, one of the inspectors called our realtor to inform her that the seller's agent had contacted them trying to obtain our inspection report itself, not simply asking about the receipts.
Title companies are supposed to act as neutral escrow agents, so this experience raised serious concerns for us about neutrality and how buyer information was handled. Based on this experience, I would strongly advise buyers and sellers to consider another title company if they want a truly neutral and trustworthy escrow process.
★★★★★
I sold my home and closed with University, and the whole experience was great. Amber made everything super easy and always got back to me quickly whenever I had questions. She made sure to have me down to close and work around my schedule. At closing, Tyler walked me through every form so I knew exactly what I was signing and how the process of funds would be handled. When I’m ready to buy again, I definitely hope I get to work with the same awesome team.