9/14/2021: Our family were notified by our agent we would need to work with First American as escrow for our new property purchase in Palmdale, CA. Our assigned officer was Marnie Kennedy, and we were asked to call her for instructions for the next step. 9/15/2021: My husband called Marnie before lunch time and did not get an answer. My husband called her four more times in the afternoon (work hours) and left voice multiple messages asking to return a call. I called Marnie two more times in the afternoon and left two voice messages asking to return a call. Both of us also wrote emails to Marnie but we did not receive any replies. We called because Marnie and her team made errors about our personal information (information/name/phone number) so we could not log into the system with the assigned IDs. Neither of us received any response from Marnie at all (no calls/emails/messages) until the closing date was passed. Our escrow/property purchase was supposed to be closed on 10/5/2021. In an automatic system email, we found Courtney Adamson was her assistant working on our account. I called Courtney Adamson and did not get a response either. I called Courtney Adamson again, and she said "I know you are excited you purchased a home." By reading the "wire transfer instruction" sent by First American, I noted "Notify our office at (661)823-1630 prior to transmitting your wire" so I called Cortney again (since I was not able to reach Marnie), she did not pick up the phone. Then I received an email from Cortney saying "any one of our assistants can answer your question" I called back (before 4:00 pm) then no asssistants answered phone calls anymore. I was planning to wire the deposite before the close of the day. 9/30/2021: We mailed a pack of documents required by the office. We called Courtney together to understand the next steps/processes for the transaction to be closed on time (10/5/2021). We also assured we would have sufficient funds available in the account by 10/3/2021. Courtney said the last thing would be having the HOA on 10/4/2021. The final settlement statement would be available no later than 10/4 since only one figure would need to be updated. The transaction would be closed by 10/5. She did not see any problems with that. 10/1/2021: No one informed us whether the completed documents were received, or whether any information from us were missing. 10/4/2021: Marnie and Cortney received the HOA document at 7:00 am (I have a copy of record). No one sent us a receipt/confirmation after we wired $24,800 the week before. No one updated the final settlement statement after receiving the HOA. I called Marnie a few times because the anticipated closing date was 10/5/2021 and from our end, everything was all set. Like before, no responses after 5-6 calls. I called Cortney, she YELLED AT ME. It was almost end of 10/4, I did not get any updates from the office even if Marnie and Cortney had all the mentioned information/documents. I mentioned the final settlement statement, HOA, etc. because we had the conversation on the last Thursday (9/30). She said "I NEVER PROMISED YOU ANYTHING". She also said "you should never call me because Marnie is your escrow officer, DO YOU WANT ME TO TRANSFER OR NOT? TRANSFER OR NOT? TRANSFER OR NOT? I explained Marnie was not in office, it does not make sense to transfer. Courtney said "She is your escrow officer, I am working late (4:50 pm) and I am still here." I said "I thought you were on the same team." Cortney yelled "I did it last time because she is the boss and she asked me to." "I am not the one responsible for your account and I am not supposed to tell you any status" 10/5/2021 (closing date) We urged 21 Century to talk to Marnie/Courtney. We were never able to reach Marnie. One day before the anticipated closing date, Courtney was saying "I am not the one working on your account." We were notified they were not able to close it on time because of HOA coming in late. However, I have evidence they received all the information from HOA at 7:00 am on 10/4. According to Courtney on 9/30, they would have sufficient time for this transaction to be closed on time. 10/6, 10/7, ... No one from the office informed our family the status of the transaction or sent us a final settlement statement. They never informed us the transaction was closed. We never heard from this office again until last week, I received a mail with some paperwork. read more

These escrow officers are extremely diplomatic in their efforts to create a smooth transaction. They work hard to accommodate the unrealistic demands of their clients. read more