tipping the title firm

I was told 200 and unfortunately I didn't know any better.

if you don't tip, then there may be a "delay" in getting your title recorded

Unlike the ever demanding more "tipping the super" issue, this is a one shot deal, easy to bite the bullet.

I think sometimes the attorney does it and somehow it gets added to your bill in some way. It really is the norm.

It's a scam. The title firm agent is often 'preselected' by the attorney/mortgage firm for a kickback. The additional tip is to underline your sucker status.

I have a few friends that work in the title industry (and my sister used to). It is customary to tip, it is part of the compensation for closers. Do you HAVE to tip? Of course not. You don't HAVE to tip a waiter/bartender/cab driver etc either, but you're an asshole if you don't.

don't tip anyone ever!!!!!!!!!!

In Japan, people don't tip waiter/bartender/cab driver etc and yet service are excellent. The whole issue is how much you spoil the kids.

OP, so let me get this straight - you just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe millions, on a place and you can't tip $50?? Cheap ass..

Tipping is one thing, but being forced to tip is another thing. I beleive my title bill was 20k or more. There should be enough room in that to pay the employee who showed up for closing. Tipping is for low wage service workers. Tipping a title agent is like tipping an insurance agent. It should be against the law. There should be more regulations.

btw. $50, you got lucky!!!!

yeah why stop at just tipping the title agent why not tip the mortgage broker , real estate agents, attorneys & the fedex service .. after all you spent $100sKs so what's a few more $ ?
Title insurance costs more per $ at risk then life insurance for crack head, it's a scam to chisel more $ when you are at your most vunerable. When was the last time you were offered a competitive analysis on title insurance rates ?

If you can't handle the way RE transactions work here, then stick with renting.

I'm heading into a closing on an apartment in Manhattan next week. I agree with #11 and #13.

I am not going to "tip" the closer, or anyone else in that room. If the issue comes up, I will say, send me an invoice detailing services rendered and fee, don't forget your social security number as I will be filling a 1099-MISC to the IRS. I pay my taxes, you can pay yours.

If this is a mandatory/necessary fee, all right, then make an invoice out of it and do it on the up and up. If it's an off-the-book "tip," shame on them.

The ones who pressure this tipping are our supposed advocates--our attorneys. Attorneys get their clients to pay this bribe in hopes of getting closers who will do favors for them on a recurring basis. I say, attorney, pay your own bribe. My closing's an easy closing. Bill your clients with the tough closing for more money. And that's what I will tell my attorney if she brings this up.

For our first purchase, we had a paralegal friend handle the closing, she said we had to tip $100, this was 10+ years ago, and we did, because we were confused and young and all that.

I save my tips, which are generous, for the hard-working service workers in my life.

Spot on #15/#13. I remarked on the projected title agency costs to my attorney & I indicated that I'd like to shop around - too late he said it's all ordered. What a surprise on the day of the closing it turns out that the title agent is his relative ! He then whispers to me that I should 'tip' the agent. This is a family show so I won't print my response, needless to say I didn't 'tip' and wouldn't even consider it for my next purchase.

I more I read this the more I am steaming. I have closed on several properties during my lifetime and I was always told by my attorney to write a check for the title person. I never realized it was an option and it was being done purely and solely to benefit my attorney.

sadly to say, i do not believe its an option. at least thats what it seemed to me. #15, please report back to us after closing

Agree with #15 . . . I made a similar comment on these boards a few weeks ago and got SLAMMED for being "cheap". I just find it incomprehensible that you have to tip a "professional" after you are already paying him and his company a chunk of cash.

I felt pressured by my lawyer to do so -- I think there is the perception that everyone who buys in manhattan is "rich" so what is another $250? And when you are in that room with everyone staring at you and you just want a smooth close, you are definitely stuck. If that closer doesnt get his check 3/4 of the way through, there is a feeling that certain papers may just "disappear". The title guys are kind of like airport check in people -- it feels like at any time they can just waive or add fees at will depending whether they like you or not.

I agree that all tipping should be banned. Make it a fee if you have to but tipping makes the whole thing seem swarmy . . .

I simply can't believe professionals honestly expect to be 'tipped' this way in the US. Tips should be for poor;ly compensateed service workers who depend on them to make a living. These title-insurance 'tips' are not tips at all, they are basically extortion, with the implicit threat that your paperwork might 'go missing' or the process 'delayed'. This kind of behaviour is reminiscent of third world country, not the USA. And who cares if "it's only a few bucks, your apartment costs millions" - that is irrelevant.

Ugh, I can't believe what I'm reading here. I just closed on a coop so I didn't have to deal with this...but isn't there some regulation about this? Complaint to the local bar association? Why on earth would you have to tip a professional? How about the person from the bank - why now tip them at the closing? ugh!

Well noone HAS to do it, but it is customary. The title closer is paid a small amount for a closing, and the tip is considered part of what they make. Understandable for people to be irritated by it, but make a distinction between the institution of the title company and the individual closer who is paid to handle the closing. I get irritated by tipping sometimes when I feel it should be part of the service, but I do it anyway, because by not doing it you are simply stiffing the title agent for whom the tip is understood to be a part of their compensation.