My friend is selling her minerals in Garvin Co. and the buyer wants to meet them and get the contract to sell signed and also wants my friend to sign and let them notarize the deed and told her she could keep the deed and they would just take a photo of the signed deed to take back to their company (owned by the ladies son) so they would write out the check. Then they would get the original deed when they brought my friend the check on closing day. Is this safe? She asked me and I wanted to make sure I give her the right advice. Thanks for any information!
Have your friend have the deed sent to her, get it notarized and send a copied version back to them. Obviously there is something fishy if they want to meet up, notarize the deed and take a picture.
Linda- something’s not right. The buyer should bring a check the first time. Sounds like they don’t have the money & are trying to sell what they don’t have-yet. A big red flag.
Run, do not walk away from this.
Reputable entities that actually have money to close transactions will have no problems providing a Purchase and Sale Agreement AND a form of deed for your review prior to you signing anything.
Todd, Andrew and fjonesiv…. the buyer wanted to meet her and give her the buy/sell agreement, have her sign a deed, the buyer’s rep.(his mother) notarize it and then take the picture and leave the deed with my friend until the closing in 30 days at which time the deed and the check will be exchanged the buyer said. As I explained to Richard on another post my friend was uncomfortable with it so yesterday she went to the courthouse and talked to the person in the records office and asked them if they would record a copy. They said not if they knew it was a copy but the trouble is they said was the copy machines were so good now days sometimes they couldn’t tell which is the copy in which case they would probably mistakenly record the copy given them. So my friend has decided to ask the buyer if she can lay a strip of paper across the pertinent information that says something like “this is a copy make for information only and not a legal document.” The recorder thought that was a good idea. Thanks for everyone’s response. They all agree with how we felt about it.
Todd, I think you are probably right about their trying to sell something they don’t have yet. They could probably sell it to another buyer by showing them the picture of what they say they have and use the flipping money to pay my friend.
When I am making transactions, I make a copy of the lease (or it could be a sale) and write in black magic marker on every page “COPY DO NOT FILE” in huge letters. I especially tilt it sideways over the signature portion. I email it to the lessee (or it could be a buyer) and say that I have signed the lease and the original is being held by a third party such as an accountant or attorney and will be released upon payment. They can see the signature, but a court clerk cannot file it since it is clearly a copy.
A legitimate buyer will have a PSA and a check available at the exchange. I would suggest a cashier’s check.
Very good advice from you and the others! Thanks! My friend said that when she worked for an accountant that had their office in the bank building she found out that a cashier’s check could also have the payment stopped on it. I told her she might meet at the buyer’s bank (which in her case is accessible) and cash the check on the spot and turn around and purchase her own cashier’s check. Then the buyer couldn’t stop payment on it. Would probably need to be done in a private office because that’s a lot of cash on the counter without an armed guard. lol
Good for them in dodging the bullet.
When I get an offer, I do several things to see if the buyer is legitimate.
-I look them up on Bizapedia and see how long they have been in business. No problem in being a new company, but I am look for the owners to see if they have experience and their BBB rating.
-I look up the owners on LinkedIn or other sites to see what their training and background is.
-I look up their website. Are they willing to say who they are? Who is funding them? What do they do? etc. If they are not willing to reveal who they are and how they are funded, then I will not deal with them.
-I ask if they are willing to put 10 percent of the purchase price in an escrow account as a good faith measure. What third party is holding that escrow for them? Attorney? Accountant? I want a PSA in writing and an agreement that the remainder of the payment will either be paid to the escrow account and my third party who is holding my lease will turn it over when the check clears or it will go to my direct direct deposit account before my third party will be handing over the lease or deed.
There are ways to protect yourself.