| Frequently
Asked Questions
After all closing documents have been returned by both parties, properly signed, notarized and ready for recording and the Buyer's purchase funds have been confirmed as good, cleared funds, the net purchase price will be disbursed to Seller. 2. How is the buyer's purchase money held pending closing? The Buyer provides the purchase price to us by check made payable to PCS Holdings, LLC DBA PCS Title Escrow Account. These funds are deposited into escrow account under the name of the Buyer. Unless Buyer's funds are delivered in the form of a Certified Check, Cashier's Check or federal wire transfer, closing does not occur until Buyer's purchase funds are cleared.[back top] 3. Are there additional costs associated with the closing? There are some small additional fees associated with the recording of the deed. Typically, a recording cost of $10-$25 is paid by the Buyer. Additionally, a nominal transfer tax may be imposed. For example, Florida imposes a documentary stamp tax on the transfer of real estate equal to 0.007 times the value of the property transferred (rounded up to the next highest $100). As an illustration, if a timeshare in Florida is purchased for $4,670.00, then the documentary stamp tax is $32.90. The transfer tax is customarily paid by the Buyer. Finally, it is possible that the resort may charge a small transfer fee. It is up to the Buyer and Seller to decide who should pay this fee. Please indicate on the Order Form who should bear this charge and we'll take care of paying the resort at the time we notify them of the transfer. [back top] 4.
What is a deed? 5. Are there different kinds of deeds? What kind do I need? There are several different types of deeds used to transfer property. The two most common are the Quitclaim Deed and the Warranty Deed. A Quitclaim Deed is a deed that simply transfers to the new owner (called the "Grantee") whatever interest in the property may be held by the person signing the deed. The signer of the deed (called the "Grantor") makes NO warranties or guarantees about the quality of Grantor's interest in the property, whether or not there are any liens against the property or whether anyone else may claim any interest in the property. A Quitclaim Deed is most often used in non-sale transactions. A Warranty Deed, sometimes called a General Warranty Deed, is a deed that transfers all rights of the Grantor to the Grantee, but the Grantor also makes certain warranties or promises to the Grantee. These promises typically include the Grantor's promise that Grantor has the rights in the property that Grantor purports to transfer to Grantee, that Grantor has the right to convey the property, that the property is free from liens or claims of third parties, that Grantee is entitled to be in possession of the property and that Grantor will compensate Grantee for any damages sustained as a result of any claims against the property by third parties. A Warranty Deed is the type of deed most often used in ordinary purchase and sale transactions. [back top] 6. How should I own my new timeshare? You may own your timeshare in your individual name or in joint names with another. Having two or more persons as the recipient of the property, called the Grantees, requires someone to decide on how the owners should own the property between themselves.
7. Are there specific requirements for the content and format of a deed? Yes. State law and sometimes local custom will dictate the exact requirements for a deed. PCS Holdings, LLC DBA PCS Title will insure that your deed is prepared in compliance with all state and county requirements. [back top] 8. What is the legal description for property? The legal description for a piece of real estate is the precise description of that property contained in the public records and is derived over time through the chain of title. It is the description used for transferring the property to another. The legal description is not the street address and is not the abbreviated form of description used on the real estate tax bill for the property. A deed preparer should always use the legal description exactly as it appears in the prior deed for the property unless the property to be transferred is only a portion of or is otherwise different from the property as described in that prior deed. [back top] 9. Is there anything unique about a transfer to a trust? Yes. A transfer to a trust is unique in several ways. In Florida, the transfer should always be made to the trustees of the trust and not to “the trust” per se. This is because for the purposes of real property transfers, the trust is not recognized as a separate entity from the trustee as would be the situation, say, for a corporation and its president. The transfer document (deed) should also contain certain language concerning the powers of the trustees regarding the property. Doing so may eliminate the need to record a copy of the entire trust, a document usually containing personal information. Finally, the terms of the trust and the identity of the beneficiaries of a trust can have a bearing on whether the documentary stamp tax is due on the transfer. If your transfer is to be made to a trust, PCS Holdings, LLC DBA PCS Title will insure that your deed is prepared in accordance with these special requirements. [back top] In most States, the Grantor is the person signing the deed. This is the person who is transferring their rights in the property to another. The Grantor's name should always be shown exactly as it appeared on the deed used when the grantor received his or her interest in the property. PCS Holdings, LLC DBA PCS Title will include specific signing instructions with the documents provided. Some States require both the grantor and grantee to sign the deed. [back top] 11. Must a deed be recorded? What governmental agency handles recording of deeds? To be legally valid, the deed is not required to be recorded although it is very risky not to do so. If the deed is not recorded, the Grantee's name (and rights) appear nowhere in the chain of title found in the public records of the county. Other parties may take actions or fail to take actions that could affect the property without a knowledge of your ownership rights. For example, the grantor may have a lien filed against all of his or her property after you receive your deed but because you have not recorded it a question arises as to whether the lien has attached to your property or not. An unscrupulous grantor may even give another deed to the same property to someone else who has no knowledge of your claim to the property. To protect the rights of the Grantee, it is advisable to properly record the deed. In Florida, the deed must be recorded in the county in which the property is located. The agency that handles the recording is the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The Clerk's office serves many functions (not just real estate recordings) and will usually have a separate department to handle the recording of all legal documents, including deeds.Our complete Escrow Closing Service includes the proper recording of your deed. [back top] 12. What is title insurance? Do I need it? Title insurance is an insurance policy under which the title insurance company agrees to pay you for certain losses that you may suffer in connection with the title to your real estate. As with any insurance policy, there are certain exclusions and limitations. Generally, the policy will promise that (1) if a legal action occurs contesting your title to the property, the insurance company will defend the title at no cost to you, and (2) if there is a defect in your title that can't be resolved in your favor, the title company will reimburse you for the amount of your loss up to the policy limit. Whether you need title insurance depends on the circumstances involved and your tolerance for risk. When you purchase a significant piece of real estate from someone else, it is important to make sure that you are acquiring good legal title to the property. An examination of the legal history of the property should be conducted by a competent real estate attorney and a title insurance policy purchased to cover any possible defects in the title that may be hidden and not discovered during the examination of title. The cost of the property usually justifies the expenditure of additional funds for the assurance of a title insurance policy. [back top] 13. The cover letter says to have the documents notarized, however, I do not see any that need to be notarized? This is a generic cover letter as we do business in many states and they all have different requirements. If you do not see any documents that have to be notarized, then just what you have and return them to us in the prepaid overnight envelope. [back top] 14. I do not know where to take my package to ship back to you? There are many UPS drop locations throughout the country. You can go to www.ups.com and locate one off their website, or if you want you can call them at 1-800 PICKUPS. If you call them, they can even schedule a driver to pick up the package for you. [back top] 15. What does this part of the legal description in my deed mean? ...it being the intent of this instrument that each Unit Week shall be considered a separate estate held separately and independently by the respective owners thereof for and during the period of time assigned to each in said Supplemental Declaration, each said estate being succeeded by the next in unending succession governed by said Supplemental Declaration until January 1, 2022, as of which date said estate shall terminate, unless extended as provided by said Supplemental Declaration." [back top] 16. Could you tell me exactly what happens on January 1, 2022? What does it mean that the "estate shall terminate"? This is a standard clause in timeshare contracts. There is a good reason. There is always the very remote possibility that as a resort ages it could get run down, too expensive to maintain, the neighborhood may run down, or, as is more likely, the real estate will become much more valuable. 17. Do you do closings in states you do not have listed on your website? No, we only do business in states we are authorized to conduct business in. However, we do value you as a client and have a strategic alliance with Stewart Vacation Ownership and InterCity Escrow in California to handle the closings we can not. [back top] 18. What company underwrites your title insurance policies? PCS Holdings, LLC is an authorized Policy Issuing Agent of Stewart Title and Guaranty Company, a national title insurer.[back top] 19. How long does it take the resort to update their owner records. Each resort is different in the amount of time to make the transfer in their system. We have seen several days to several months. This is one area totally out of our control. [back top] 20. I have a buyer or seller that is out of the country. How long does it take to get the documents to them and back. On transactions where one of the parties is in a different country, we email all the closing documents to them to print out. They then have to take it to a notary for signatures. Unlike here in the U.S., many times, the only notaries in other countries are attorneys and they have to call to schedule an appointment. This can take up to a week to get. Once those are signed and notarized, depending on the shipping method, we usually have documents back within a week. [back top] 21. To speed up the process, can you email me my closing documents? Yes, however, due to recording requirements in most states, they have to be printed on a laser printer. With inkjet technology, if the paper gets wet, we get a rainbow of colors back for closing and the counties while the paper looks pretty, won't let us record the document.
22. Can I pay with a credit card? Yes, PCS Holdings accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, however, paying with a credit card costs about 3% in bank fees to process. This is called the merchant discount. Since we are an escrow company, we have to pass those fees along to the card holder. [back top] 23. I am a foreign seller, are their fees I will incur above closing fees? Yes, the Internal Revenue Service requires us to withhold 10% of the purchase price and send in to them for any seller that does not have a U.S. Taxpayer ID. This is called the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act or FIRPTA for short. More information can be found at www.irs.gov and search for IRS Form 8288. [back top] 24. Do you offer financing for my timeshare purchase? No we do not offer financing, however, we do recommend Tammac Financial http://www.tammacfinancial.com . We have done business with Andy in the past and PCS Holdings in on their list of approved closing companies. [back top] 25. Will you assist me in selling my timeshare? No, we are not real estate agents, however we can recommend a few of our partners to you to pick from. [back top] 26. Why won't you take a personal check or a home equity check for the closing? We are bound by the laws of the states we do business in. Most states require that all checks over $500.00 be good funds. The states have interpreted this to be cashiers checks, official bank checks, or wire transfers. We are required to follow those guidelines. [back top] 27. Can I wire transfer the funds to you instead? Yes. On our forms page is a copy of our wire transfer instructions. [back top] 28. Are you licensed and insured? Yes, all of the states that we issue title policies in, we are fully licensed. As a requirement of those licensing requirements, some states require we post surety bonds, and many require that we maintain fidelity (theft of funds) insurance. [back top] The choice should be simple... Contact us Toll Free at (800) 973-3316
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Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida 32804 Privacy Policy | License Information This website is intended to provide general information regarding the transfer of timeshare properties and related services available from PCS Holdings, LLC DBA PCS Title. While the information on this site deals with legal issues, it is not intended to be and does not constitute legal advice. The reader should seek the advice of an attorney in his or her state or country of residence regarding any legal questions. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law and our reliance on information provided by outside sources, we do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or availability of the content on this site or on other sites to which we link. |
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