Buying or Selling a Lennar Home in the Coachella Valley? It’s a Detail that Matters in Escrow.

16 Apr Buying or Selling a Lennar Home in the Coachella Valley? It’s a Detail that Matters in Escrow.

For years here in California, the Lennar Charitable Housing Endowment (part of the Lennar Family of Homebuilders) has been helping the transitionally homeless – those made homeless because of domestic violence, unemployment, a catastrophic illness – by supporting charities that help people get back on their feet.

Each time a Lennar home is purchased and resold, a mandatory fee of 1/20^th of one percent of the gross sale price is collected from the Buyer and paid to the Foundation.

Our local Lennar developments include:

• The Bridge @ Jefferson
• Escena
• Esperanza @ Desert River Estates
• Cala Rosa
• Vista Serena
• La Morada
• La Quinta del Oro
• Las Plumas
• San Milan @ Paradiso
• Tapestry @ Esplanade
• Terra Lago
• Cordoba
• Marquesa

How does this affect your escrow?

If you’re working with properties from these communities, it’s important that Realtors and Buyers know that the listing is a Lennar home so they can account for this fee during their escrow transaction.

Many times the original Buyer (whom we now know as the Seller) may not remember paying the endowment when they acquired the property from Lennar. When you take a listing on a Lennar home, the Seller must disclose to the potential Buyer that paying this fee is part of selling the property and that this fee will affect the new Buyer when they go to sell the property in the future.

Who pays the fee is negotiable, except when the property is first transferred from Lennar to the purchaser when the Buyer pays on the first sale out.

It’s important to disclose the endowment on the MLS when you take the listing. The agent representing the Buyer can take advantage of line items eight or nine on page two of the Residential Purchase Contract. If you get a contract that does not address the endowment, be sure to list it on the counter offer.

As Escrow Officers, our first clue concerning this endowment would be disclosed to us only through the Preliminary Title Report. Therefore, it could take some time before we discover the issue through title. Our responsibility as escrow holders is to obtain the proper demand through Lennar and pay the endowment at closing, just as we would a Trust Deed or any Lien that encumbers.

Remembering these important points will make your escrow with a Lennar property go smoothly and successfully:

• A mandatory fee of 1/20^th of one percent of the gross sale price is paid to the Lennar Foundation each time a Lennar home is purchased and resold.
• The Seller must disclose to the potential Buyer that paying this fee is part of selling the property. This fee will affect the new Buyer when they go to sell the property in the future.
• It’s important that Realtors and Buyers know if the listing is a Lennar home so they can account for this fee during their escrow transaction.
• The Buyer’s agent can take advantage of line items eight or nine on page two of the Residential Purchase Contract. If you get a contract that does not address the endowment, list it on the counter offer.
• Our responsibility as escrow holders is to obtain the proper demand through Lennar and pay the endowment at closing.

For more information about calculating a Lennar donation, or how escrow is affected by the Lennar Charitable Housing Foundation, please visit: http://www.lchf.org/escrow_title.htm