Spooky Tales from Title: The Father Who Came Home From the Dead

Halloween came two days early at the Tri-Cities Marketing Council. Chair Anthony Geha arrived as Aquaman, a clone of Anthony arrived to warm up the room, and a tequila bottle danced down the aisle. Then four title and escrow professionals sat down under a poster of a ghost holding a key and told us what actually keeps them up at night.

The pictures above are most of the morning. Here is the rest of it.

The panel

Vice Chair Tom Bigley, dressed for a safari, asked the questions, and they came with Halloween names. On the panel:

• Sal Covarrubias of First American Title, a past guest speaker, who has been to every one of the Alta California missions.
• Farid of Fidelity National Title, 24 years in the industry, raised right here in Fremont.
• Nancy Salas, senior escrow officer at WFG National Title in Pleasanton, in the only job she has ever had, since she was 20.
• Kristin Hart, assistant branch manager and escrow officer at Old Republic Title in Fremont, going on 24 years, and a former cupcake entrepreneur.

The deal almost died

Sal laughed at the question. A scary story that nearly derails a transaction? "That's like Tuesday."

The surprises that come late. Kristin's list was the everyday one: a death nobody knew about until close to closing, a client who turns out to be out of the country, and a statement of information that comes back late, so liens surface at the last minute. An IRS lien can take 30 days to clear. Solar is huge right now too, she said, because every company has its own process. With some, the seller has to make the first contact, and with credit checks and signatures it can take weeks.

The trust nobody touched. Nancy had a seller who inherited a home through a trust, lived in it for years, paid the mortgage and the taxes, and never moved it out of the trust. Selling it meant a reassessment back to the date of death and a very large tax bill for the years in between. When a situation like that comes up, she said, send your client to their CPA early.

The $310,000 surprise. Farid's team did a final title search the day before closing and found a $310,000 home equity line, just recorded, that the seller had taken out to buy the next home. His escrow officers got a payoff so the buyer could take clear title.

The five-day close. Sal's team had five days, and the prior closing had gone through with the wrong legal description. An escrow officer used LexisNexis and an AI search to track down the previous seller, who was glad to help, and they got the correction recorded and closed on time.

"We only need two things and we can close any transaction. We just need time and money."

Sal Covarrubias, First American Title

Ghosts from the past

The father who came home. Sal's Cupertino story was the one the room will retell. A father left his home in the care of his son and daughter and flew to Chile to look after his ailing mother. Three or four months became two years. His children obtained a death certificate from Chile saying he had died, took possession of the house and sold it. About eight months later he came home and knocked on his own door. Who are you, he asked the new owners, and what are you doing in my home?

Title insurance is what unwound it. The owner, the buyers and two lenders all had to be made whole, with legal action along the way. He could have taken the house back. He took a cash settlement instead. Title catches about 99% of these before they close, Sal said; the ones that get through are usually fraud or forgery.

A seller dies in escrow. Farid's team gathered the death certificate and the trust documents quickly and still closed on the contract's timeline.

The trustee who wasn't. Nancy's file: a wife put a son and a husband on as trustees and passed away, and the husband resigned as trustee, remarried and somehow took out a reverse mortgage on the house, about a million dollars. The son had to get them out and sue the mortgage company. Then the agent wrote it as a 10-day close. Counting the days her office was open, Nancy had four, and it closed just two days late.

The notice past the close date. Kristin's probate seller took a quick close, and the notice of proposed action came back dated after the contract's closing date. There is a waiting period in probate. Ask how far along it is before accepting a fast close.

The fraud files

Vacant land, all cash, quick close. Kristin's agent had never met the seller, which is common these days. Then one seller emailed that he had tuberculosis and was in quarantine, and needed to sign fast, with his own mobile notary. The second seller could not be reached at all. She did her own digging, found the real owner's address, and learned they were not selling. Title's routine notice to the owner of record had reached them too. Transaction canceled.

Facebook Messenger only. Nancy's seller, on a free and clear, non-owner occupied home, would talk to his agent only through Messenger. Another escrow officer had declined the file. Nancy dug in, confirmed he really did live in an assisted living facility and insisted he come to her office rather than use his own notary. He dug in too, and it cost about a week. He turned out to be real, but she was not taking anyone's word for it.

The son with the same name. Farid's office noticed signatures that did not match the recorded documents and sent a FedEx to the property. The real owner answered: his son, with the same name, was trying to sell the house.

Fraudsters shop around. Turned down at one title company, Sal said, they go to the next. Title companies share fraud bulletins for that reason. One recent case ended with a cash-out refinance of more than $2 million on a free and clear, non-owner occupied property, and the elderly owners found out only when they saw the lien. Escrow officers, he decided after this panel, moonlight as private investigators.

Red flags to remember

• Vacant land, or a home that is not owner occupied.
• A property owned free and clear.
• Elderly owners.
• All cash and a quick close.
• A seller you have never met, reachable only by email, text or social media.
• A seller who brings their own notary.
• A co-owner nobody can reach.
• A good reason why it all has to happen now.
• Signatures that do not match the recorded documents.

The panel's advice was short: know your seller, and call your escrow officer early.

Before you write a 10-day close

• Ask your escrow officer first. They will close as fast as you ask, Nancy said, but they know what is out there.
• Your clock is not their clock. Your 10 days start at acceptance and can include a weekend or a holiday. Theirs can be four business days, and the lenders and solar companies keep business hours too.
• Solar takes a buyer. A transfer cannot start until there is one, so it cannot be done early.
• Get the statement of information back early. It is how liens show up in time to deal with them.
• Ask about the HOA package. Whether to order it up front is a good question for your officer. Many companies now update a demand with no upfront charge, probably eight out of 10, Kristin said.
• Be open from the start. A death, an owner overseas, a trust: the sooner title hears it, the more time there is.

Who learned something, Tom asked. Almost every hand went up.

Watch it

The recording is on the council's YouTube channel. The panel starts about 32 minutes in, where Anthony calls the title folks to the front of the room.

Title panel · October 29, 2026Spooky Tales from Title0:0028:11IntroductionsAlmost diedGhostsFraud files28:11Pop outThe council streamed the meeting on Facebook Live, and the recording is on its YouTube channel. This opens where Anthony calls the panel up and runs to the last story. Press play to watch it right here, pop it out anytime, or watch it on YouTube.

The rest of the morning

First-timers. Beth Becerra of Fidelity National Title has lived in the area for more than 44 years and gives her time to the Elks Lodge. Gerarda Stocking of Stocking Realty in Livermore, 48 years in the business, came with her daughter Rachel, who started working for her at 12 and got her license at 18. Asked for a fun fact, Gerarda mentioned that her plane once went down in the English Channel on the way to elope, and that she swam to shore. Nobody else's fun fact went well after that. Jacob of Carlos Construction, a Fremont general contractor, heard about us from his mother, Rochelle. Nancy Salas drove an hour and 20 minutes from Alamo, her first escrow nightmare of the day. Narendra G. Singh of RE/MAX Accord, a Fremont resident since 1994, tried to hide his first-timer tag until Chuck gave him up. And Jatin, whose company offers around-the-clock transaction coordination and digital marketing from Sunnyvale, was invited by someone he met door knocking, and plays table tennis.

Sponsors. Anthony thanked the council's new sponsors, with Dianna Novela of Novela Real Estate, which turns two on November 1, in the room. Luchie Grissom and Susan Munkner are the people to talk to, and the tiers are on the sponsorship page.

Listings, as presented. No homes were on Super Tour this week.

• Gerarda Stocking: 930 Wainwright in San Jose, four bedrooms and three and a half baths with a detached 466 square foot ADU, just reduced by $100,000 to $2,250,000. Open Saturday and Sunday, 11 to 2.
• Kathleen Minser of Legacy Real Estate: 40722 Gualala Place in Fremont, open this weekend. She also reported that Gerarda's open houses come with famous fried chicken and brownies.
• John Francisco of Francisco Realty and Investments: 1663 Ocaso Camino in Fremont, a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath end-unit townhome with a wraparound deck, at $1,750,000.
• Dianna Novela: coming soon, 614 Atherton Place in Hayward, a three-bedroom, three-bath gated townhome by Hayward BART, around $699,000, on the CCMG broker tour Wednesday, November 4, from 10 to 1. Also a six-month rental at 38860 and 38864 Cherry Lane in Fremont: two vintage three-bedroom, one-bath units, $3,000 and $2,750, before the lot is redeveloped.

The costume contest. Everyone in costume stood up and paraded around the room, led by Luchie, while the rest of us were told to look, because we had to vote. The room then told Anthony to just pick, so he asked Chuck Edell. Two $10 gift cards went to Ingrid, who came as a bottle of libation, and to Jackie, the flapper who was actually flapping.

Announcements. Dianna, incoming president-elect of Women's Council of REALTORS® Alameda County, invited everyone to its installation dinner on Friday, November 13, at Vineyard View in Livermore: black and white, in the spirit of Coco Chanel, with an electronic saxophonist and an affogato bar for dessert. Tickets are going, and sponsors are welcome. Jackie spoke for Adopt-an-Angel, which this year serves 800 foster children and children of low-income families. It lost its longtime leader, Georgia Butterfield, this past year, and fewer tags have gone out as a result. Gifts are needed by November 24. Please take a tag.

The drawing. Melrose brought two canteens, and two lucky ticket numbers went home with them.

Coming up: November 5, the Regency Home-Ready Program with David Cohn and James Lee. November 12, Doreen Roberts on open house ethics. November 19, the C.A.R. directors. No meeting November 26. And Kristin may have just committed to cupcakes.

Thank you

Thank you to Sal, Farid, Nancy and Kristin for telling us the stories, and to Tom for asking. Thank you to Betty, Shufrah, Marlyn and everyone who set out that breakfast, and to everyone who came in costume and paraded when told.

We meet Thursday mornings from 8:45 in Fremont. Guests are welcome, and the speaker calendar has who is coming next.

Photographs by Harv Balu and Scott Capen, Scott Capen Photography; each photo names who took it. Words by Harv Balu. The meeting was streamed on Facebook Live and posted to the council's YouTube channel.

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Sources

• The meeting: the council's recording of October 29, 2026, on YouTube. The panel starts at 32:22.
• The panel: the panelists' own accounts at the meeting. Names and titles from their name badges and their companies' pages: WFG National Title, Pleasanton and Old Republic Title, Fremont.
• The listings: as presented at the meeting. 930 Wainwright's address, price and open house times checked against its MLS listing, number 41151061.
• Adopt-an-Angel: its presentation at the meeting and its website.

Disclosures

• This post reports what was said at the October 29, 2026 meeting of the Tri-Cities Marketing Council. The stories are as the panelists told them, without the names of the people involved.
• It is general information only. It is not legal, tax, title or escrow advice. Every transaction is different: ask your escrow officer, attorney or CPA about your own. The council does not endorse any company mentioned.
• Listing details are as the agents presented them on October 29, and they can change. They are not an offer. Check with the listing agent.
• Photographs © 2026 Harv Balu and © 2026 Scott Capen Photography, each marked on the photo. Please ask before reusing them.