I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS ATTORNEY TOLD ME!!!!

I am not sure on the legality, but it seems highly unlikely that Dean would have us be doing something Illegal. Keep your shoes on I suspect that the lawyer (who shall remain nameless) may have either been having a bad day, or perhaps he had tried flipping himself and didn't know what he was doing, so lost a lot of money. He got "flipped off" so to speak. Hence, he's steering clear.

Just a guess!

Poetman

ETA: Keep in mind that lawyers will do or say anything to turn a profit. So he was probably lying. (can you tell I have little faith in this guy?)

Some attorneys are exactly that 'clueless.' I actually tried calling some up yesterday to ask if they do assignments and most had no clue what I was talking about. Luckily, I have a cash buyer who told me of this title company he knows that does assignments so I plan on calling them and hopefully use them in the future.

Wish you well, have you done your first deal yet?

Hello Shirley,

I seen this somewhere on this site before. You are not selling
properties by assigning contracts, you are allowing someone else
to take your place in the contract for a fee!!

Hope this helps,
Denver

I KNOW it's not illegal and I felt like "flipping" him off. LOL... And you reminded me of a couple of jokes I heard about lawyers.

How does a lawyer sleep? First he lies on one side and then he lies on the other.

How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three... one to climb the ladder, one to shake it, and one to sue the ladder company.

I believe you. So they're clueless in Florida too!!

Shirley

Yes, he knew exactly what I was trying to do, but again, he was clueless!!

Shirley

Stop talking about it, put it behind you. Find another attorney.

THE END!

You betcha I'm going to find another one! And I put it behind me the minute I hung up the phone. There are lots more where he came from!!

THE END

Do you have an REIC there?

Ask them to recommend an atty and a title co.

Karen

Ask him to cite the law it specifically violates.

ask them where you can find it in the law that its illegal. tell them you have equitable intrest in a property you have under contract. that should put their brain at ease. lol

Don't say anything to that attorney and just hang up, and do the same for all future dumb ass attorney's who are giving you BAD LEGAL ADVICE! Assigning a contract, note, or anything else is perfectly legal. I think the only state you have to get creative is California, but you can do this anywhere! If I told you how much banks assign notes/mortgages on a daily basis it would blow your mind.

Just hang up on the idiot and feel sorry for him that he just lost tens of thousands of dollars in potential easy business!

It'll never happen. TX and DE ban assignments flat out. Solution? Name the agreement something else. Instead of an "assignment," call it a "transfer of interest" or "sale of equitable interest." There's 13 states right now caving into RE Broker political pressure to force any and all real estate sales through their offices ONLY. They will never win, mostly because this is America, and nothing is more anti-democratic or anti-capitalistic than not being able to sell something you own, on your own.

There's also other strategies you can use instead, that vary based on your deal situation. You could place a note on the property for the amount you want, then sell it straight to someone else. You can use transactional funding to do a double close (wet or dry, you get paid either way). Main thing to remember with assignments: You don't need an attorney to do them! Have one review your docs to make sure everything is fine, but really all you need are: 1) all the correct paperwork, 2) signed by everyone, 3) a notary public to certify all signatures, and 4) a title company to file everything with. This doesn't mean you should skip hiring an attorney, but it does mean you can do assignments on your own, once your agreements are legally "kosher."

Remember, attorneys are people, too. They can be misled, misinformed, or mistaken just like anyone else can. They can specialize in any part of the law, moonlight in another part, and be completely clueless when it comes to everything else. They get beat down in court, screamed at by judges, flustered, mad, confused, have bad days, bad clients, etc., etc. It sounds like he's been misinformed by a colleague or burned before by handling an assignment the wrong way. Just like you won't find Donald Trump in any 15,000 RE salespeople, you won't find a Professor of Law practicing real estate law next to your title company. You have to sift, sort, screen, and interview these professionals, just like all the other ones. Word of mouth works wonders. If you already have a good professional in ANY area of your business, ask for recommendations to fill in any gaps to your professional team. Check AngiesList, too. Hope this helps, and don't stop trying!

As we both know, thats just not true, I crossed over the line about 2 months ago and did an assignment in SC . I still havent heard back from Chad yet, will try him again today. Why dont you try calling the REIA Groups number and see if someone could recommend an attorney for you?
I will let you know something when I get with Chad.

Take care and good job on taking action !!

Curtis Fillers
(Charlotte,NC)

THE NEXT TIME ANY ONE HAS A DEAL THATS BEING ASSIGNED try to get a title company that has a built in lawyer.

You've been given some good advice and some bad advice in this thread so I'll just put in my 2 cents on etiquette.
The correct answer is the lawyer needs to better understand contract law and not necessarily Real Estate law. Contract "assignment" is legal in all states.

As for calling the attorney "out" on his lack of knowledge, you may want to consider this: Since you don't know who this attorney knows and speaks to, you don't want any bad experiences tied to your or your company's name. You never know when that will come back and bite you in the A*s. Just let it go and move on. You should be able to find a title company or REI group who can tell you who they use for this type of deal.

What you may want to consider is once the deal is done, offer to politely show this attorney how it was done so that he doesn't make this same mistake again. He may, in turn, offer you some services or assistance with a future deal or legal issue that he is familiar with at a reduced rate in appreciation of your time and effort.

Just something to think about

Hope this helps...

Andy Sager
DG's AndyS
CFIC member

Remember to always be professional. I don't think I would be calling them names as some have done on here. Remember what you say could always come back to haunt you. Sounds like you moved on to me as well.

It is really no big deal, just move on to the next. When anyone tells us NO just move on to the next person, no hostility, no anger, no hurt feelings. This is life and it won't be the last time.

I do have an attorney joke!!

What is the difference between a catfish and an attorney?
Answer: One is a scum sucking bottom feeder and the other one is a fish.

Michael Mangham
Mentoring/Team Building Nationwide
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

On behalf of all the catfish I have raised, imported, bred and sold over the years, I take offense to that joke. Not all of them suck scum. The attorney's however, can fend for themselves. LOL
Andy Sager
DG's AndyS
CFIC member

This comment is directed to Alpine Investments--where did you get your information about Texas banning assignments?? I've already spoken with an attorney here in College Station, TX about assignments, so I know they don't ban them here. Just wondering...

You misread my joke. I would never COMPARE a poor innocent catfish to an attorney. My joke concerned the difference between the two and was in no way an attempt to degrade a catfish. I don't want PETA coming after me! Ha Ha!

Michael Mangham
Mentoring/Team Building Nationwide
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

P.S. My check book is ready for you. Have not seen anything from your associate here.

Hiall you have me laughing, theres good attorneys and there bad attorneys, now, Shirely lets be easy on your fellow( Attorney)some dont study enough to know better, have an awesome day all, thanks, Jim

Here in California, Chicago Title is one of the few who will consider assignment escrows on a case by case basis. Seems to be easier on cash deals with private parties only, no banks involved, according to a local escrow manager at Chicago Title.

That's what I intend to do before the time comes that I actually need one. I had not called any attorneys when I went to the meeting on Monday. Otherwise I would have asked someone then. You're right. I'm sure someone will know someone.

Shirley

That's exactly what I should have done.

When he told me that, I just politely thanked him as he did me and I hung up. I could see there was no use in continuing a conversation with him... like I said...clueless in Anderson.

Shirley

I don't think it will ever happen either. We (you guys) (investors) are who's keeping this real estate industry alive right now.

But you told me something I did NOT know!! I didn't know you didn't have to have an attorney to do assignments. I thought you had to take the Purchase Agreement AND the assignment agreement to the attorney. (??)Seems like I read that in one of Dean's books.. Correct me if I'm wrong. That would make things a little bit simpler. And as far as having an attorney look over the documents, a title company would be familiar enough to tell me if the documents were not correct, don't you think? However, I believe SC requires an attorney to do closings. I don't think title companies alone can do them. I'll have to check on that for sure.

No, I wasn't calling him out as a "bad" attorney. Like I said he was recommended by another attorney I called as being a good real estate attorney, so I know he knows his stuff. He just doesn't know his stuff when it comes to assignments.. He's still clueless. LOL

Shirley

To Alpine investments not illegal in El paso, Tx verified w/Title Co,investor friendly REaltor(2),my local mentor/investor(10),attorney (2)

Just wondering too? Oh yeah and from the seasoned investors on this site!

Don't be crossing the line!!! haha.. that sounded funny at first. Yes, I'm going to call them tomorrow or go online and I'm sure I'll get some feedback.

I noticed Chad had a DVD for sale Monday night (even though he wasn't there). He must be pretty good at what he does.

That's a great idea. I'm sure they exist (even in Anderson)!!

Shirley