Escrow for Leisure World Seal Beach

Leisure World Seal Beach is a 55+ community of 6,608 homes. Its first residents moved in in June 1962. It’s made up of 16 Mutuals, numbered 1 to 17, with no Mutual 13 (Leisure World Seal Beach FAQ). The Golden Rain Foundation, GRF, runs the shared property, such as the clubhouses and the golf course, and provides management to the Mutuals.

In Mutuals 1 to 12 and 14 to 16, the Mutual owns the property. A buyer buys a share of stock in the Mutual, with the right to live in one unit, and signs the Mutual’s Occupancy Agreement. GRF issues a stock certificate and a GRF membership certificate for each unit (GRF Buying and Selling Handout). California law calls this a stock cooperative (Civil Code §4190).

Mutual 17 is different. It’s a condominium: buyers get a grant deed and own their unit.

1. 01

   Step 1: Sign the Notice of Intent to Withdraw

   A sale starts when the seller signs a Notice of Intent to Withdraw. It tells the Mutual you plan to sell your share. Sellers get it through an escrow office. You’ll need your stock and membership certificates, or an Affidavit of Lost Certificates from the Stock Transfer Office. Escrow takes the signed notice to Stock Transfer for the Mutual president’s signature (Handout).

2. 02

   Step 2: Hand in your keys for the pre-listing inspection

   Escrow sends the signed notice and the Pre-Listing Inspection form to GRF’s Physical Property office, with keys to the unit, the patio and the carport storage. The inspection lists the repairs the seller must finish. Mutual 9 has its own process.

3. 03

   Step 3: List the home

   Only after the Mutual president has signed the notice and the inspection is done. Before then, no lockbox, no For Sale sign, no previews and no open houses.

4. 04

   Step 4: The buyer applies and is approved

   Each Mutual sets its own money rules for buyers, and the Stock Transfer Office checks the buyer’s financial papers against them. The buyer also applies for GRF membership (GRF membership policy) and attends a buyer orientation at least 10 business days before closing.

   HeldThe buyer’s money waits in escrow.

5. 05

   Step 5: Final inspection

   Ten business days before closing, the home is inspected again. If repairs aren’t done, the inspector writes work orders, and the seller can no longer do the work. The cost comes out of the seller’s repair deposit, and the rest is generally refunded within 45 to 60 days after closing.

   CheckedApproval, inspections and repairs are checked before closing.

6. 06

   Step 6: Closing

   Escrow pays what the sale owes GRF and the Mutual, including the seller’s transfer fee, and then pays the seller.

   ReleasedGRF and Mutual fees first, then the seller.

GRF’s attorney reviews trust papers, and Stock Transfer won’t go ahead until the attorney gives a written release. For trust and estate sales, GRF’s handout points sellers to the Stock Transfer Office at 562-431-6586, ext. 347 (Handout).