Story Time: A Closing That Nearly Called the Police

By Mark Mahaffey

Mark Mahaffey is the Broker and President of Mark Mahaffey and Associates Real Estate, a full-service real estate firm based in Athens and Watkinsville, Georgia.

Well, hello folks again. It is Mark Mahaffey here, and I’m kind of smiling because I’ve got a very interesting story to share with you. Some information that will hopefully help you.

The closing that went sideways

We went to a closing not too far in the distant past. We all sat down, and one of the agents on the other side of the transaction says to the attorney, “Hey, whatever happened with that situation last week?” The attorney says, “Well, now of course we all sit up, and we say, ‘what?’”

Apparently, they had a closing that was going along just fine. Run of the mill. Everything normal. At one point, they’re going over the details, which is usually run of the mill, and everybody’s kind of sitting there yawning. Sign here, sure, sign here, and eventually we exchange keys, and everybody’s gone, right? Pretty straightforward stuff as long as you’ve done your homework in advance.

Here’s what happened.

As they’re going through the numbers, they get to the seller side, and they say, “Oh, by the way, you’ll be paying $50,000 in closing costs.”

The seller perks up and says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. I didn’t agree to that.”

Now, everyone’s holding their breath.

Who messed up?

The whole table goes quiet. Everybody’s thinking the same thing. “What email did I send? What text did I not send? What did I sign or not sign? What did I have my clients do or not do? Is it my fault?”

The attorneys say, “Well, wait a second. What do you mean you didn’t agree to that?” The seller says, “No, I did not agree to that. I did not agree to pay that much in closing.”

So the attorneys call in the administrators. People start pulling up emails, pulling up amendments, pouring through documents. Did we miss something? They eventually get to the point where they say, “Sir, this is correct. There have been no changes. Is this your signature?”

“Well, yeah, it is.”

“But I didn’t agree to that.”

“Okay, so you did sign this. Are there any other documents that you’re aware of that changed the situation?”

“Well, no, there’s no other documents.”

“Hm. Okay. Well, then in this case, it looks like we need to move forward because this is what you agreed to.”

The closing table almost became a crime scene

Now he starts to become extremely upset to the point where the attorneys are saying things like, “Um, kind of doing the little hand signal to the administrator like maybe you need to call some law enforcement because we’re about to get into a critical situation here that may become physical.”

At some point after they leave, the police have not yet shown up, but they get him to calm down. After they’ve explained the situation and how there’s really no other way for this to go other than for him to complete the sale, he pushes his chair back and with a great huff says, “Well, fine. I’ll sign this, but I want you to know something. If I had read this contract, there is no way I would have agreed to this much money.”

And he continues to proceed with closing.

He just told the entire room he never read the contract

Now the interesting thing is everyone is sitting around the table stunned because the attorney says, “You do realize that you just admitted, now in front of how many other people are in the room at this point, multiple admins, additional attorneys, the buyer, the buyer’s agent, that you never read the contract.”

Everyone just heard him say he never read the contract. That one sentence told the whole story. It wasn’t a mistake in the paperwork. It wasn’t an error by his agent. He signed something he never bothered to read, and it cost him $50,000.

Why this matters for every buyer and seller

I don’t mean to be harsh about this. This is what we do on a regular basis. Brokers, real estate agents, we pour over these contracts. We want to make sure that you’re protected. Please don’t do this to yourself. Maybe it was an oversight on his part. I don’t want to bash the guy too much. This is not what he does, right? It’s not his day to day.

But he missed it. He agreed to it. He signed it. And it cost him $50,000.

This is why professional representation matters. Not just having someone in the room, but having someone who reads every word, catches every number, and makes sure you understand what you’re agreeing to before your signature goes on the page.

We would love to protect you. Don’t go down that risky path. Text me at (706) 540-0336, email me at m.mahaffey@markmahaffey.com, or visit blog.markmahaffey.com. Let’s get together, especially if you have any real estate questions. We’ll see you soon.