## Q48 key (Lien Before Closing)

1. Send written defect notice today, no later than Thursday, to invoke the five-business-day cure period and preserve readiness to close. Missed: North Quay waives the contractual cure machinery or weakens specific performance.
2. Obtain a current creditor payoff stating principal, credited payments, accrued interest, costs, payment instructions, and release conditions. The original $420,000 and seller estimate are insufficient. Missed: the transaction prices an unknown lien by guess.
3. Acceptable cure is payment and recordable release, binding closing release, or insurer-approved escrow equal to 125 percent of the current payoff. A price credit or indemnity works only if title and lender conditions are separately satisfied. Missed: private allocation is confused with marketable title.
4. The proposed $300,000 holdback is unsupported because no payoff exists, no 125 percent calculation can be made, and neither creditor nor insurer approved it. Do not close on that term. Missed: the buyer funds into a lien exception.
5. Use the five-day extension, require seller contact with the creditor immediately, coordinate title and lender, and set a hard cure decision before the extended close. Missed: two days of panic replace the bargained cure period.
6. Close only with an unconditional policy and funded release or compliant escrow. If uncured, negotiate a further written extension if convention timing permits or terminate for the $320,000 return; do not waive absent a deliberate, financed decision. Missed: the deposit or opening schedule is put at risk without title protection.