topic Re: Closing question in Mortgage Loans

Closing question

bcdudley — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:43:47 GMT

We are closing on our house next week. The guy we are buying from said he is having the utilities shut off at noon on the day of closing. We are set to close at 9:30 in the morning.

We are moving from a different county, so we will be getting a new water and electric provider. When I went to sign up for those, they both told me they will run a credit check before they can activate service. I have been told by my loan officer not to open any new accounts and that they will be looking for inquiries.

Are utilities different, or do we need to wait until after closing to start these accounts. If we wait, we will go up to two weeks without power and water. This will be very tough since our kids start school the week after we move.

My loan officer said it is ok to go ahead and transfer the utilities as long as they do not run credit checks on us.

Re: Closing question

203bravo — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:34:48 GMT

My loan officer said it is ok to go ahead and transfer the utilities as long as they do not run credit checks on us.

Seems they have already given you the answer -- but why would it take 2 weeks to get utilities turned on? Is that common in your part of the country?

Re: Closing question

bcdudley — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:53:19 GMT

That is what I was told when I called Reliant Energy and asked about new service. They have the smart meters in and can turn it off instantly, but for someone to unflip the switch can take up to two weeks.

The water company said that as long as nobody has been sent out to turn it off yet, it would just remain on, but if they do get out there to turn it off, it may take them up to two weeks to turn it back on.

I do not know if it is common because I have never moved into a place where the previous occupant turned them off immediately. I have always had a week or two and I initiated the transfer. I also never had to wait until after I moved in to start the process.

This is in Denton County, TX.

Re: Closing question

203bravo — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:59:59 GMT

UHMMM --- I have lived in South Carolina, Atlanta GA, and Mississippi and have never had to wait 2 weeks for anything other than cable and phone.. and they usually only take a couple days....

But I agree that 2 weeks without power and water is un doable.. there should surely be someway to cover this... maybe someone has other ideas..

I wish you the best of luck.

Re: Closing question

bcdudley — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:29:08 GMT

I doubt that it would take them that long. I think that is just a disclaimer they throw out, but I don't want to take a chance. I am sure that there are others that run into this situation?

Re: Closing question

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:32:46 GMT

My mother ran into something similar with the two week rule but she didn't have to worry much because she was a cash buyer so she didn't have the stress that we do...

Why not ask your LO? Present this dilemma to him and see what he says? I'm he has to have some kind of logical solution for this, besides telling you no new inquiries.

Re: Closing question

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:39:41 GMT

In the past we have had luck with providing an upfront deposit (usually in the amount of a couple month's average service cost) with utility companies instead of having a credit check run.

Re: Closing question

Booner72 — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:44:22 GMT

be careful here. I have a QWEST inquiry from May. They ran my credit to find me in their system. Then when I complained they said the didn't even know they did hard inquiries. now i have to write letter of explanation about this inquiry.

be very very careful. have the seller's keep the utility on for another 24 hours.

Good Luck!

Re: Closing question

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:49:37 GMT

It is likely the credit check they pull will be a soft inquiry. Although you'll have to ask them if they pull hard or soft. I know when I was calling around for homeowners ins they all pulled softs.

Re: Closing question

luvsandyshores — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:01:00 GMT

my cable co did a hard inquiry on me, when my apartment complex changed providers and offered all residents free cable. That annoyed me - a hard inquiry to get a free service that I didn't even want!