We expect our athletes to be perfect. This column has nothing to do about golfers, by the way. When Randy Moss dropped a few passes, the sports pontificators and the talk-show-shut-ins immediately became certain that Randy was not trying hard enough.

When Kevin Garnett had a few less-than-spectacular-games at the start of the season, the same pontificators were certain that his knee was not completely healed. Our heroes become goats as soon as they fail to meet our expectations of perfection.
 
The real world is different however, and unfortunately it would appear that our collective expectations regarding the quality of work in the business environment declined over the past few decades. For example, when some mortgagees decided to apply little or no effort toward properly discharging mortgages after some hardworking families had paid them in full, REBA and our friends worked with the Great and General Court leading to the enactment of  MGL Chapter 183, Section 55(g) and the related statues that can be used to correctly discharge mortgages. Numerous REBA Title Standards have been adopted over the years to fill the gaps created by those who have failed to perform up to the caliber of players like Wes Welker.  In my opinion, we hit bottom about a year ago when conveyancers were pressured to look the other way when lenders who had foreclosed on property failed to obtain proper powers of attorney or corporate votes or other required documents from the entity that held the mortgages. Attorneys were asked to believe that “Acme Bank National Association as Trustee for the Registered Certificate Holders of Blackacre Commercial Mortgage Funding I Corporation Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 1997-C1” was the same as “Acme Bank National Association as Trustee for the Registered Certificate Holders of Blackacre Commercial Mortgage Funding II Corporation Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 1997-C3”.
 
Perhaps the tide has shifted, however, with the Land Court decision of U.S. Bank v. Ibanez. REBA has had to temporarily suspend Title Standard 58 pertaining to Out of Order Recording of Mortgage Discharges and Assignments.  It is our understanding that the decision will be appealed, but meanwhile it has put quite a few titles in question without any immediate answers. It also may cause some introspection, and cause us to collectively question the recent emphasis on expediency at the expense of quality. Those who have experienced the thrill of receiving a notice of a title claim, or the absolute joy of being cross-examined, know that in the end the quality of your work will be judged by the ultimate “Monday Morning Quarterbacks”.  Your work will be judged by lawyers, judges and/or juries who will apply the highest standards. They will have the benefit of looking back over time and judging you based upon your ability to follow every law, every regulation, every practice standard and every rule of professional conduct with the utmost precision. It is hard to say “no” to home buyers and home sellers who have their moving vans packed and their change of address cards mailed. But, that is exactly what we have to do from time to time, and that is why we get paid those huge $550.00 fees to perform closings. Professional football players may be paid $8,000,000.00 per year, and when they drop the ball they get criticized by fans and the sports media (and perhaps their coaches??). When we drop the ball, there is much more at stake.