Are you a homeowner and need to enter the Carlsbad real estate market by selling your home?
- Do you have a POA (Power of Attorney)?
- Is there a Conservatorship in place?
Mind you, I am NOT an attorney and cannot provide legal advice here, and what applies here in California may not be an issue in your state. So I would recommend chatting with your attorney before you get too far along in the process of selling your home.
In my recent experience with POAs it seems that the title company will have some particular requirements in order for the POA to be enforceable in the transaction. Specifically the POA must address the issue of the particular property you are acting on, to provide for you to specifically act as seller for that property on behalf of someone else.
It seems that POAs may sometimes be drafted too generically and will not be accepted by the title and escrow companies. Since this document must, as I understand, be recorded as part of the transaction, it must be legally appropriate and acceptable in California (or wherever) in order for the transaction to occur.
A conservatorship is a legal document that defines a form of guardianship by one individual over another (my description, not the legal definition). I believe these need to be recorded and they are in place until altered. It is possible that in some cases a POA may be in conflict with a conservatorship that has been recorded, This must be corrected so the appropriate actions may be taken and a clear title can transfer at closing.
If you are an agent with a client who has either a POA or conservatorship (and perhaps the person acting as POA does not even know there is a conservatorship), it would be prudent to check with the title company at the outset to make sure all is in order and that problems will not arise when documents are to be recorded or at closing.
Some folks seem to think that a POA gives them absolute power to negotiate a contract and sign all documents - that may not be the case.
I have learned that it is wise to not make assumptions, based on a recent experience with both legal documents.
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