Our office is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Savannah next to Oglethorpe Square, 127 Abercorn Street, Suite 305, Savannah, Georgia 31401.
Please make checks payable to Law Offices of Jordan Dyke, LLC.
Parking is available in the Bryan St. Parking Garage conveniently locked one block from the office.
Street parking is available along E. York St., E. President St., and E. State St.
Nope. A title search and a survey are very different things indeed.
A title search is an examination of the county’s deed records to determine a particular property’s legal ownership. Its primary goal is to ensure that a seller can convey good title to at closing, or that a borrower has good title to the property pledged as security for a loan. A title search will show ownership as well as any judgments, tax liens, mechanic’s liens, and other items that may have attached to the property. A title search is conducted by a title examiner at the courthouse and involves researching grantor and grantee indexes, lien books, and so on.
A survey, on the other hand, is a visual depiction of a property’s physical boundaries. An as-built survey is a survey that shows all a property’s physical improvements, such as a house or a driveway, in relation to its boundary lines. Surveys are prepared by land surveyors who physically examine the actual land where the property lies.
Unfortunately, no. While it would be wonderful if we could just push a button and that would be that, someone must be physically present at closing to put pen to paper.
Why? Well, deeds have to be notarized to be recorded at the County courthouse, and Georgia’s attestation law requires that all deeds – and any other document requiring a notary – must be signed in a notary’s actual presence. Digital signatures, DocuSign, and the like don’t cut it. While they may be just fine other times, when it comes to closing, they unfortunately just don’t work.
No. Virtual closings are not ethically permissible. Closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia attorney’s physical presence. Anything else is considered unethical by Georgia’s Supreme Court and State Bar. As the Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said recently: “Our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
If you can’t come to closing it may be possible for everything to be signed by an attorney-in-fact. For sellers and cash buyers, that’s a super easy solution. For borrowers, signing though an attorney-in-fact will require your lender’s approval.
The best option, though is to plan to come to closing.
While all closing documents must be signed in front of a Georgia attorney, we understand that sometimes everyone isn’t able to make it to our office to sign a tall stack of papers. Virtual closings are not permitted under Georgia Law, but there is an option if you can’t make it to closing.
Name an attorney-in-fact! Simple! If and whenever possible, we’d love to conduct your closing with someone here in our office acting as your attorney-in-fact. Let us do the work for you and you can stay safely at home!
Wire fee is $45
Email has been a standard form of communication since the late eighties, and internet-based email has been around as long as Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and The Simpsons. Email is quick. Email is efficient. And nowadays, with almost everyone carrying around one model of smartphone or another, email is literally in everyone’s pocket. It’s been around for over thirty years. It’s going nowhere. It’s here to stay.
And for ease of use in sending and receiving documents, email can’t be beat. Sure, there are still fax machines around, but really, who is carrying a fax machine with them in their purse?
So, we’re going to be sending out a lot of email for your closing. We really hope you email us back. And with that in mind, here are some helpful hints:
It’s easy to select us as your closing attorneys!
Under the Georgia Fair Lending Act, also known as GAFLA, the borrower has the right to select the closing attorney. When you are applying for your loan, simply look for the attorney preference checklist and make sure you chose Law Offices of Jordan Dyke to close your loan. Your mortgage broker will then get in touch with us, and we’ll take it from there!
The typical turnaround time for a Savannah area title exam is usually two to four business days. Counties outside the Savannah area generally take longer, as may any property that has significant title issues.
Title orders can be rush ordered and, depending upon the county, the exam may come back the same day.
The closing ceremony, when all of the transfer and loan documents are signed, typically lasts around half an hour to forty-five minutes. Closings rarely exceed an hour. Depending upon the number of documents that need to be signed, and the detail with which the parties wish to review them, the closing may take longer.
Occasionally there may be a problem that must be addressed at the last minute, which might further prolong closing, but this rarely happens.
A good guide is to arrive for closing ten to fifteen minutes early and expect the closing to take around half an hour to forty-five minutes.
Closing costs will differ from property to property; if you’d like an estimate, just request a fee sheet, and we’ll send one out to you.
Power of attorney fee is $150
Unfortunately, the question “how quickly can you close” is impossible to answer. Anyone who says differently, to quote the Dread Pirate Roberts, is selling something. How quickly can we close? It all depends.
Why?
Well, here’s the thing. Every property is unique, and the ownership history of every property is different. Even if two properties are physically identical, their titles certainly won’t be, and there is absolutely no way to know beforehand how simple or complicated a property’s title may be. The examiner has to get into the records just to see what those records will look like.
(If we could know beforehand, we certainly would have done better on our Divination O.W.L.s. Predicting the future isn’t really our strong suit.)
But even if a title is relatively simple, that’s no guarantee that things can happen fast. Say, for example, a property’s title is clean with only one mortgage to pay off. Some lenders will get us a payoff within hours of us requesting it. Fewer lenders will take days. Even fewer will take weeks. Say there’s a clean title with a first and a second mortgage. Same thing. Say there’s a clean title with a first mortgage, a second mortgage, and a homeowners’ association. You guessed it: the same thing.
You see the point. For a closing to happen, there are a lot of individual elements that have to come together. All of them take time, and it is impossible to predict how much time any particular one will take for any particular property. Again, anyone who says differently is selling something.
That doesn’t mean we can’t make generalizations, though. For Savannah properties, title exams typically come back in two to four business days. Mortgage payoffs also typically come back in two to four business days. So if the traffic signals in the sky all turn green, then things can happen in just days. We’ve handled thousands of closings that have taken less than a week from start to finish. But we’ve also handled closings that have taken much longer.
The plain truth is that any individual closing will take the time it takes, but we’ll always work hard to get things done as quickly as possible for you.
So you just bought your house and looked online just to find out that the county tax office is showing someone else as the owner? That’s OK. There’s no need to worry! This is perfectly normal, and everything is fine. It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem, and this is doubly so for the tax offices, unfortunately. But here’s the thing. Tax records only reflect the owner as of January first of any calendar year. So whoever owned the property at the first of the year is going to be shown as the tax record owner for the entire year, even though you’ve bought the property. That’s just how tax offices are and it happens to everyone. But that’s OK! While the county tax commissioner isn’t a great place to verify ownership, the deed record rooms are! Recorded deeds are what show ownership, and they’re available to everyone online at the Clerk’s Authority website. Or just as us for a copy from your closing. We’ll be happy to send one along!
Related question: I bought my house and got a tax bill for the entire year. Do I have to pay it? What gives?
Anyway. While the property taxes may show an old owner for now, that will change next January. So relax, have a cup of really strong tea, and wait it out. That’s all there is to do!
So you bought a house and just received a bill for the whole year of property taxes? No need to worry! This is perfectly normal, and everything is fine. You see, the property tax bills weren’t available when you bought your house. If they were, they would have been collected for and paid at closing. But when you bought your house, they weren’t out. And since most tax offices don’t release the yearly bills until autumn, this happens pretty much every time someone buys a home. That’s why there are prorations. If you look at your settlement statement, you should see a credit from the seller to you; and this represents their portion of the taxes. The proration amount is based on the last available bill, and the credit reduces the amount you otherwise would have needed for closing. Everybody’s responsible for their part of the taxes, after all! When the bill finally does come out, you are ultimately responsible for paying the entire amount that’s owed. If you have a mortgage, most of the time all you need to do is forward the bill to your mortgage company. They’ve already been collecting escrow in anticipation of paying those taxes. If you own your home free and clear, then you should go ahead and pay that bill – but know that the seller contributed their portion at closing.
Up to a point, yes.
Georgia law prohibits closing attorneys from accepting personal checks for more than $5,000.00, and in truth, most closing attorneys will only accept much less than that. Additionally, your lender will almost always insist on a wire or certified funds drawn from the bank listed on your loan application, regardless of a closing attorney’s policies on personal checks.
For amounts less than five hundred dollars, personal checks are generally fine. For amounts above five hundred dollars, you should either bring certified funds or have funds directly wired into our trust account. To ensure timely funding, and to prevent closing in escrow, wires are strongly recommended. Just email us and we’ll send you a copy of our wiring instructions.
Checks should be made out to Law Offices of Jordan Dyke, LLC, or to yourself.
Unless you’re paying for the property in cash, it is usually the buyer who has to sign the great majority of documents at closing. While many are standardized, uniform, and used in every closing, the sheer number of documents to sign can sometimes be intimidating.
The settlement statement, promissory note, deed to secure debt, occupancy affidavit, and identity affidavit, along with a number of tax forms, are typically signed at every closing. Additionally, your lender may require a number of other documents to be signed.
At closing, we will happily explain each of the documents you sign and answer any question you may have.
In Georgia, the closing attorney usually represents the lender, not the buyer or seller. This does not mean that that the interests of lender, buyer, and seller are opposed. In fact, just the opposite is true most of the time: the seller wants to sell the property, the purchaser wants to buy the property, and the lender wants to give a loan to the buyer to pay for the property.
In other words, the closing attorney, while specifically representing the lender, works to the benefit of all the parties to the transaction. Because the interests of the lender are closely aligned with those of the buyer and seller, most of the time the parties do not retain separate counsel and instead rely upon the efficiency and professionalism of the closing attorney.
If you want, you are more than welcome to have your own attorney review documents prior to closing or even attend the closing itself. We will happily work with you to ensure you are satisfied with your closing experience.
You should bring two forms of identification, including at least one valid government-issued ID such as a passport or a driver’s license.
A lis pendens is a notice filed in the deed records at the courthouse that a lawsuit has been filed challenging a property’s ownership. It normally gives notice of the suit as well as the parties and the court in which the suit has been filed. If a lis pendens is filed, the ownership of the property depends upon the lawsuit’s outcome, and consequently, it’s considered a cloud on title. If a title search reveals a lis pendens, then we cannot close until the suit is resolved or the lis is released.
A Title Exam is an examination of the real property records to determine a particular tract of property’s ownership. It is used to ensure a seller has the ability to convey good title to a borrower or that a borrower has good title to the property that they’re pledging as collateral for a loan. Clear title is an absolute necessity for every closing, and it’s the title exam that allows us to verify that everything is good to go.
Not only does a title exam research a property’s legal ownership, but it also looks for other potential problems such as judgments, federal and state tax liens, delinquent property taxes, civil suits, and other potential defects and issues. Any of these problems could drastically affect a closing, which is why it’s so important to research them as soon as possible in the closing process.
Additionally, we cannot issue a title insurance policies without researching the current state of the property’s title first.
In other words, the title exam is super important.
For Savannah counties, the typical turnaround time for a title exam is usually two to four business days. Counties outside the Savannah area may take longer, as may any property with significant title issues.
Title orders can be rush ordered and, depending upon the county, the exam may come back the same day.
A Mail-away Closing is one in which one or more of the parties is most often, though not necessarily, out-of-state and asks if closing documents can be emailed to them to be executed in front of a notary or other signing service. Unfortunately, the ethical permissibility of these types of closings is suspect at best and we can’t use mobile notary or similar services for closings. As a recent Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said: “our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
Georgia is an attorney state, and real estate closings are considered the practice of law. Consequently, closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
In fact, both the Georgia State Bar and Supreme Court have consistently said that a Georgia attorney must be physically present at closing:
A lawyer cannot delegate to a nonlawyer the responsibility to “close” the real estate transaction without the participation of an attorney. Formal Advisory Opinion No. 86-5 also provides that “Supervision of the work of the paralegal by the attorney must be direct and constant to avoid any charges of aiding the unauthorized practice of law.” The lawyer’s physical presence at a closing will assure that there is supervision of the work of the paralegal which is direct and constant. Supreme Court of Georgia, Formal Advisory Opinion 00-3. (Emphasis added).
The Supreme Court of Georgia additionally wrote:
…We have issued formal advisory opinions which confirmed that a lawyer cannot delegate responsibility for the closing of a real estate transaction to a non-lawyer and required the physical presence of an attorney for the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance (including, but not limited to, a warranty deed, limited warranty deed, quitclaim deed, security deed, and deed to secure debt). Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
The Ethics Committee of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia also states that an attorney must
“attend the closing of the transaction. An attorney must be physically present at the closing of a transaction and may not telephonically supervise a nonlawyer officiating at the closing.” Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, Residential Real Estate Closing Procedure Handbook. (Emphasis added).
Not only is an Georgia lawyer’s presence required when closing documents are signed, the Georgia Supreme Court approved an advisory opinion by the Georgia State Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law that found that the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance by a non-lawyer represented the unauthorized practice of law:
We have consistently held that it is the unauthorized practice of law for someone other than a duly-licensed Georgia attorney to close a real estate transaction or to prepare or facilitate the execution of such deed(s) for the benefit of a seller, borrower, or lender. Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
This position is shared by the Real Property Section, which maintains that remote notary closings “encourage the unauthorized practice of law.”
Ultimately, at the least, an attorney would not be satisfying his or her ethical obligations by merely sending closing documents to be signed in front of a mobile notary or other similar service. At the worst, an attorney could be seen as aiding the unauthorized practice of law by doing so. There’s unfortunately no way around it: Closing documents simply must be signed in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
With modern communication technology like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other video conferencing services, this ethics rule may seem a bit outdated. We sure think so, anyway. And with that in mind, the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar recently asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reconsider their ruling requiring a lawyer’s physical presence when the closing documents are signed. The Supreme Court declined to do so.
So where does that leave someone who isn’t able to come to closing? Unfortunately there are few options. One is to find a licensed Georgia lawyer who is willing to oversee the execution of the closing documents. This is likely to be both difficult and prohibitively expensive. After all, there’s an additional set of attorney’s fees to be paid.
The second option is to appoint an attorney-in-fact who will attend closing and sign all of the closing documents. Using a power of attorney for closing is super easy. And it’s free. We never charge for drafting one.
Or, the simplest solution of all is to make sure everyone can attend closing.
A settlement statement, showing exactly how much money you will need to bring to closing, is prepared as soon as we receive closing instructions from your lender. This may be several days in advance of your closing, or it may be just before you are scheduled to close on your home; it all depends upon your lender.
Rest assured we encourage lenders to get their closing instructions to us in a timely fashion and strive to provide a settlement statement to you as quickly as possible.
Title policies are underwritten by me for Chicago Title Insurance Company and always include gap coverage. When both an Owner’s and Lender’s policy are being issued, we apply a simultaneous-issue discount to the cost of the owner’s policy.
Want to know how much your title insurance will be? Contact us and we will do the calculations for you!
Nope. A title search and a survey are very different things indeed.
A title search is an examination of the county’s deed records to determine a particular property’s legal ownership. Its primary goal is to ensure that a seller can convey good title to at closing, or that a borrower has good title to the property pledged as security for a loan. A title search will show ownership as well as any judgments, tax liens, mechanic’s liens, and other items that may have attached to the property. A title search is conducted by a title examiner at the courthouse and involves researching grantor and grantee indexes, lien books, and so on.
A survey, on the other hand, is a visual depiction of a property’s physical boundaries. An as-built survey is a survey that shows all a property’s physical improvements, such as a house or a driveway, in relation to its boundary lines. Surveys are prepared by land surveyors who physically examine the actual land where the property lies.
Unfortunately, no. While it would be wonderful if we could just push a button and that would be that, someone must be physically present at closing to put pen to paper.
Why? Well, deeds have to be notarized to be recorded at the County courthouse, and Georgia’s attestation law requires that all deeds – and any other document requiring a notary – must be signed in a notary’s actual presence. Digital signatures, DocuSign, and the like don’t cut it. While they may be just fine other times, when it comes to closing, they unfortunately just don’t work.
No. Virtual closings are not ethically permissible. Closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia attorney’s physical presence. Anything else is considered unethical by Georgia’s Supreme Court and State Bar. As the Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said recently: “Our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
If you can’t come to closing it may be possible for everything to be signed by an attorney-in-fact. For sellers and cash buyers, that’s a super easy solution. For borrowers, signing though an attorney-in-fact will require your lender’s approval.
The best option, though is to plan to come to closing.
While all closing documents must be signed in front of a Georgia attorney, we understand that sometimes everyone isn’t able to make it to our office to sign a tall stack of papers. Virtual closings are not permitted under Georgia Law, but there is an option if you can’t make it to closing.
Name an attorney-in-fact! Simple! If and whenever possible, we’d love to conduct your closing with someone here in our office acting as your attorney-in-fact. Let us do the work for you and you can stay safely at home!
Wire fee is $45
Email has been a standard form of communication since the late eighties, and internet-based email has been around as long as Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and The Simpsons. Email is quick. Email is efficient. And nowadays, with almost everyone carrying around one model of smartphone or another, email is literally in everyone’s pocket. It’s been around for over thirty years. It’s going nowhere. It’s here to stay.
And for ease of use in sending and receiving documents, email can’t be beat. Sure, there are still fax machines around, but really, who is carrying a fax machine with them in their purse?
So, we’re going to be sending out a lot of email for your closing. We really hope you email us back. And with that in mind, here are some helpful hints:
The typical turnaround time for a Metro-Atlanta area title exam is usually two to four business days. Counties outside the metro area generally take longer, as may any property that has significant title issues.
Title orders can be rush ordered and, depending upon the county, the exam may come back the same day.
The closing ceremony, when all of the transfer and loan documents are signed, typically lasts around half an hour to forty-five minutes. Closings rarely exceed an hour. Depending upon the number of documents that need to be signed, and the detail with which the parties wish to review them, the closing may take longer.
Occasionally there may be a problem that must be addressed at the last minute, which might further prolong closing, but this rarely happens.
A good guide is to arrive for closing ten to fifteen minutes early and expect the closing to take around half an hour to forty-five minutes.
Closing costs will differ from property to property; if you’d like an estimate, just request a fee sheet, and we’ll send one out to you.
Power of attorney fee is $150
Unfortunately, the question “how quickly can you close” is impossible to answer. Anyone who says differently, to quote the Dread Pirate Roberts, is selling something. How quickly can we close? It all depends.
Why?
Well, here’s the thing. Every property is unique, and the ownership history of every property is different. Even if two properties are physically identical, their titles certainly won’t be, and there is absolutely no way to know beforehand how simple or complicated a property’s title may be. The examiner has to get into the records just to see what those records will look like.
(If we could know beforehand, we certainly would have done better on our Divination O.W.L.s. Predicting the future isn’t really our strong suit.)
But even if a title is relatively simple, that’s no guarantee that things can happen fast. Say, for example, a property’s title is clean with only one mortgage to pay off. Some lenders will get us a payoff within hours of us requesting it. Fewer lenders will take days. Even fewer will take weeks. Say there’s a clean title with a first and a second mortgage. Same thing. Say there’s a clean title with a first mortgage, a second mortgage, and a homeowners’ association. You guessed it: the same thing.
You see the point. For a closing to happen, there are a lot of individual elements that have to come together. All of them take time, and it is impossible to predict how much time any particular one will take for any particular property. Again, anyone who says differently is selling something.
That doesn’t mean we can’t make generalizations, though. For Savannah properties, title exams typically come back in two to four business days. Mortgage payoffs also typically come back in two to four business days. So if the traffic signals in the sky all turn green, then things can happen in just days. We’ve handled thousands of closings that have taken less than a week from start to finish. But we’ve also handled closings that have taken much longer.
The plain truth is that any individual closing will take the time it takes, but we’ll always work hard to get things done as quickly as possible for you.
So you sold your house and property taxes are still in your name? Did you get the actual bill and wonder if you should pay it? Well, no need to worry! This is perfectly normal, and everything is just fine.
Here’s the thing. The property tax bills weren’t available when you sold your house. If they were, they would have been collected for and paid at closing. But when you sold your house, they weren’t out. And since most tax offices don’t release the yearly bills until autumn, this happens for most closings.
That’s why there are prorations. If you look at your settlement statement, you should see a credit from the you to buyer; and this represents your portion of the taxes. Everybody’s responsible for their part of the taxes, after all!
When the bill finally does come out, the buyer is responsible for paying the entire amount that’s owed. If you actually received the bill, all you need to do is forward it on to the buyer.
So why would the bill still be in your name, even though you sold the house? That’s just how the tax offices work, honestly. Property tax bills are always sent with the name of whomever owned the property on January first of that year. If you sell your house before the bills come out, the bill will still be issued in your name, and the tax office won’t update their records until the next year. No worries!
As the seller, you’ll only have to sign a few documents at closing. In most cases, you’ll just have to sign the settlement statement, the deed, some tax forms, and a property owner’s affidavit. After closing, you’ll receive copies of all the papers you’ve signed.
Prorations are the adjustment of property taxes between the buyer and seller at the time of closing, ensuring that both each are responsible for their fair share of the property taxes. Prorations are based on the number of days each owns the property during the tax year and appear as a separate line item on the settlement statement.
If a tax bill is already out, then its proration will be based on the actual amount owed and will be shown as a credit from the buyer to the seller. Essentially the seller is paying the property tax for the entire year and the buyer is crediting their portion to the seller.
If a tax bill is not out, then the proration will be based on an estimated tax amount. Typically that’s just the previous year’s amount. Then there’s a credit from the seller to the buyer for their portion. When the tax bill finally does come out, the buyer is responsible for the full bill.
Overall, tax prorations are a beneficial aspect of real estate transactions that help to ensure fairness, clarity, and simplicity for both the buyer and the seller.
You should bring two forms of identification, including at least one valid government-issued ID such as a passport or a driver’s license. Additionally, if you are planning on having proceeds wired to your account, you should also being a copy of your bank’s wiring instructions or a voided check.
A lis pendens is a notice filed in the deed records at the courthouse that a lawsuit has been filed challenging a property’s ownership. It normally gives notice of the suit as well as the parties and the court in which the suit has been filed. If a lis pendens is filed, the ownership of the property depends upon the lawsuit’s outcome, and consequently, it’s considered a cloud on title. If a title search reveals a lis pendens, then we cannot close until the suit is resolved or the lis is released.
A Mail-away Closing is one in which one or more of the parties is most often, though not necessarily, out-of-state and asks if closing documents can be emailed to them to be executed in front of a notary or other signing service. Unfortunately, the ethical permissibility of these types of closings is suspect at best and we can’t use mobile notary or similar services for closings. As a recent Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said: “our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
Georgia is an attorney state, and real estate closings are considered the practice of law. Consequently, closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
In fact, both the Georgia State Bar and Supreme Court have consistently said that a Georgia attorney must be physically present at closing:
A lawyer cannot delegate to a nonlawyer the responsibility to “close” the real estate transaction without the participation of an attorney. Formal Advisory Opinion No. 86-5 also provides that “Supervision of the work of the paralegal by the attorney must be direct and constant to avoid any charges of aiding the unauthorized practice of law.” The lawyer’s physical presence at a closing will assure that there is supervision of the work of the paralegal which is direct and constant. Supreme Court of Georgia, Formal Advisory Opinion 00-3. (Emphasis added).
The Supreme Court of Georgia additionally wrote:
…We have issued formal advisory opinions which confirmed that a lawyer cannot delegate responsibility for the closing of a real estate transaction to a non-lawyer and required the physical presence of an attorney for the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance (including, but not limited to, a warranty deed, limited warranty deed, quitclaim deed, security deed, and deed to secure debt). Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
The Ethics Committee of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia also states that an attorney must
“attend the closing of the transaction. An attorney must be physically present at the closing of a transaction and may not telephonically supervise a nonlawyer officiating at the closing.” Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, Residential Real Estate Closing Procedure Handbook. (Emphasis added).
Not only is an Georgia lawyer’s presence required when closing documents are signed, the Georgia Supreme Court approved an advisory opinion by the Georgia State Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law that found that the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance by a non-lawyer represented the unauthorized practice of law:
We have consistently held that it is the unauthorized practice of law for someone other than a duly-licensed Georgia attorney to close a real estate transaction or to prepare or facilitate the execution of such deed(s) for the benefit of a seller, borrower, or lender. Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
This position is shared by the Real Property Section, which maintains that remote notary closings “encourage the unauthorized practice of law.”
Ultimately, at the least, an attorney would not be satisfying his or her ethical obligations by merely sending closing documents to be signed in front of a mobile notary or other similar service. At the worst, an attorney could be seen as aiding the unauthorized practice of law by doing so. There’s unfortunately no way around it: Closing documents simply must be signed in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
With modern communication technology like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other video conferencing services, this ethics rule may seem a bit outdated. We sure think so, anyway. And with that in mind, the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar recently asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reconsider their ruling requiring a lawyer’s physical presence when the closing documents are signed. The Supreme Court declined to do so.
So where does that leave someone who isn’t able to come to closing? Unfortunately there are few options. One is to find a licensed Georgia lawyer who is willing to oversee the execution of the closing documents. This is likely to be both difficult and prohibitively expensive. After all, there’s an additional set of attorney’s fees to be paid.
The second option is to appoint an attorney-in-fact who will attend closing and sign all of the closing documents. Using a power of attorney for closing is super easy. And it’s free. We never charge for drafting one.
Or, the simplest solution of all is to make sure everyone can attend closing.
Closings disburse as soon as we have collected funds in our trust account and any needed lender’s authorization to fund. Ordinarily this happens shortly after closing, but sometimes may take several hours; and closings that occur late in the afternoon may not fund until the next morning. But don’t worry! We know your money is important to you, and we work as hard as possible to get your funds to you as quickly as possible!
Why can things be delayed?
Wires come in after hours. Unfortunately, wires are not instantaneous transfers from one bank to another. Sometimes wires take a few hours to wind through the federal system. Sometimes banks group wires together and release them in giant batches throughout the day. Sometimes wires get held for quality control and anti-fraud checks. Without all the funds in hand, we can’t disburse.
Lender approval may slow disbursing. If your buyer is getting a loan, there’s a good chance their bank is going to want to review the signed documents from closing before they authorize us to write checks. By good chance, we mean that it is almost universal practice. Some banks are quick and require very few closing documents. Others aren’t.
If you haven’t sent them to us already, we super encourage you to bring a copy of your wiring instructions to closing. We’ll happily wire your proceeds to you as soon as possible after closing and, u8nlike manyother closing attorneys, we do not charge for wires.
For more information, please feel free to request a copy of our funding and good funds notices.
There are a number of reasons why the payoff balance may be higher than the amount shown on your monthly statement.
The most-common reason is that your monthly statement only shows the principal balance that’s currently owed, and does not include the additional interest accruing every day. Many times, this interest accounts for the difference between your statement balance and the final loan payoff. There are, also, other factors that can affect your payoff: there may be a shortage in an escrow account, there may be owed late fees or other lender charges, or there may be a prepayment penalty associated with your mortgage.
We always obtain a written payoff statement from your mortgage company, and will happily give you a copy if you want one.
Nope. A title search and a survey are very different things indeed.
A title search is an examination of the county’s deed records to determine a particular property’s legal ownership. Its primary goal is to ensure that a seller can convey good title to at closing, or that a borrower has good title to the property pledged as security for a loan. A title search will show ownership as well as any judgments, tax liens, mechanic’s liens, and other items that may have attached to the property. A title search is conducted by a title examiner at the courthouse and involves researching grantor and grantee indexes, lien books, and so on.
A survey, on the other hand, is a visual depiction of a property’s physical boundaries. An as-built survey is a survey that shows all a property’s physical improvements, such as a house or a driveway, in relation to its boundary lines. Surveys are prepared by land surveyors who physically examine the actual land where the property lies.
No. Virtual closings are not ethically permissible. Closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia attorney’s physical presence. Anything else is considered unethical by Georgia’s Supreme Court and State Bar. As the Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said recently: “Our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
If you can’t come to closing it may be possible for everything to be signed by an attorney-in-fact. For sellers and cash buyers, that’s a super easy solution. For borrowers, signing though an attorney-in-fact will require your lender’s approval.
The best option, though is to plan to come to closing.
While all closing documents must be signed in front of a Georgia attorney, we understand that sometimes everyone isn’t able to make it to our office to sign a tall stack of papers. Virtual closings are not permitted under Georgia Law, but there is an option if you can’t make it to closing.
Name an attorney-in-fact! Simple! If and whenever possible, we’d love to conduct your closing with someone here in our office acting as your attorney-in-fact. Let us do the work for you and you can stay safely at home!
Wire fee is $45
Email has been a standard form of communication since the late eighties, and internet-based email has been around as long as Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and The Simpsons. Email is quick. Email is efficient. And nowadays, with almost everyone carrying around one model of smartphone or another, email is literally in everyone’s pocket. It’s been around for over thirty years. It’s going nowhere. It’s here to stay.
And for ease of use in sending and receiving documents, email can’t be beat. Sure, there are still fax machines around, but really, who is carrying a fax machine with them in their purse?
So, we’re going to be sending out a lot of email for your closing. We really hope you email us back. And with that in mind, here are some helpful hints:
The typical turnaround time for a Savannah area title exam is usually two to four business days. Counties outside the Savannah area generally take longer, as may any property that has significant title issues.
Title orders can be rush ordered and, depending upon the county, the exam may come back the same day.
Power of attorney fee is $150
Unfortunately, the question “how quickly can you close” is impossible to answer. Anyone who says differently, to quote the Dread Pirate Roberts, is selling something. How quickly can we close? It all depends.
Why?
Well, here’s the thing. Every property is unique, and the ownership history of every property is different. Even if two properties are physically identical, their titles certainly won’t be, and there is absolutely no way to know beforehand how simple or complicated a property’s title may be. The examiner has to get into the records just to see what those records will look like.
(If we could know beforehand, we certainly would have done better on our Divination O.W.L.s. Predicting the future isn’t really our strong suit.)
But even if a title is relatively simple, that’s no guarantee that things can happen fast. Say, for example, a property’s title is clean with only one mortgage to pay off. Some lenders will get us a payoff within hours of us requesting it. Fewer lenders will take days. Even fewer will take weeks. Say there’s a clean title with a first and a second mortgage. Same thing. Say there’s a clean title with a first mortgage, a second mortgage, and a homeowners’ association. You guessed it: the same thing.
You see the point. For a closing to happen, there are a lot of individual elements that have to come together. All of them take time, and it is impossible to predict how much time any particular one will take for any particular property. Again, anyone who says differently is selling something.
That doesn’t mean we can’t make generalizations, though. For Savannah properties, title exams typically come back in two to four business days. Mortgage payoffs also typically come back in two to four business days. So if the traffic signals in the sky all turn green, then things can happen in just days. We’ve handled thousands of closings that have taken less than a week from start to finish. But we’ve also handled closings that have taken much longer.
The plain truth is that any individual closing will take the time it takes, but we’ll always work hard to get things done as quickly as possible for you.
We get it. We understand that you might not be able to make it to every closing. Sometimes you’re double-booked. Sometimes you’ve got other obligations. Sometimes life just happens. Whatever the reason, we’ll work with you to get you your commission. So what are your options?
If you won’t be coming to closing, please just let us know as soon as you can. And whatever is the easiest way to get your commission, we’ll make it happen for you!
While the typical turnaround time for a title exam is usually two to four business days, sometimes it does take longer for a report to come back from the courthouse. Usually this means that there are potential title defects or issues or additional items that need to be investigated before the exam can be completed. Other times, the examiner may need documentation from additional courthouse offices beyond the deed records. Because every property’s title is unique, delays can and sometimes do unfortunately occur.
What can hold up a title exam? There are lots and lots of things that can affect how long it takes to get a title exam, but here are some of the more common issues we’ve encountered over the years:
Problems with the legal description. Sometimes a property’s legal description doesn’t match the county tax maps. Sometimes there’s a typo in a previous description that was just never corrected. And as we’ve seen, sometimes the owner doesn’t technically own their property, but the one next door. We’ve seen all of these issues occur.
Common names. Title searches are conducted by name. If there’s a common name in the chain of title, then that means more records must be searched to eliminate potential liens and judgments.
Lots of conveyances. While most properties may have only several owners during the exam’s search period, other properties may have many, many more. For every additional owner, further examination is needed to make sure there are no outstanding liens and judgments against them or the property wasn’t sold twice. All of this extra research takes time.
Additional document requirements. If a property was owned by someone who has passed away, then the examiner will need to research the probate court records. Sometimes a property has been involved in a civil suit or a divorce action. Sometimes there’s a federal criminal matter to review. But when additional documents are needed to complete a search, that can contribute to delays.
While we work hard to get searches back as quickly as possible, sometimes delays do regrettably occur. Unfortunately, there is usually no way for us to tell what may be holding up an exam before it comes back from the courthouse. But as soon as your title exam comes in, however, we’ll absolutely let you know!
While all closing documents must be signed in front of a Georgia attorney and we absolutely prefer that everyone attend closing, we know sometimes that’s just not possible. And when that happens, we’ll happily work with your clients to have them sign everything with a power of attorney. That’s no problem at all!
Remember, though!
Every power of attorney should be specific to the transaction. Downloading a form off of the internet and filling it out yourself is probably not a good idea.
If it’s a borrower needing a power of attorney, then their lender will need to approve both its use and language. Some lenders are absolutely fine with a power of attorney. Others aren’t.
If it’s a seller, then a power of attorney is always OK.
If you you think you’ll need a power of attorney for your closing, please let us know as soon as possible. We’ll happily draft one for you, free of charge.
Prorations are the adjustment of property taxes between the buyer and seller at the time of closing, ensuring that both each are responsible for their fair share of the property taxes. Prorations are based on the number of days each owns the property during the tax year and appear as a separate line item on the settlement statement.
If a tax bill is already out, then its proration will be based on the actual amount owed and will be shown as a credit from the buyer to the seller. Essentially the seller is paying the property tax for the entire year and the buyer is crediting their portion to the seller.
If a tax bill is not out, then the proration will be based on an estimated tax amount. Typically that’s just the previous year’s amount. Then there’s a credit from the seller to the buyer for their portion. When the tax bill finally does come out, the buyer is responsible for the full bill.
Overall, tax prorations are a beneficial aspect of real estate transactions that help to ensure fairness, clarity, and simplicity for both the buyer and the seller.
In order for seller concessions to be paid at closing, they must be specifically approved by the lender. Simply provide to us a copy of any invoice or estimate detailing the work done or to be done, and we will submit it to the lender for their approval.
Please understand that not every lender allows seller concessions, and many prohibit them outright.
A Title Exam is an examination of the real property records to determine a particular tract of property’s ownership. It is used to ensure a seller has the ability to convey good title to a borrower or that a borrower has good title to the property that they’re pledging as collateral for a loan. Clear title is an absolute necessity for every closing, and it’s the title exam that allows us to verify that everything is good to go.
Not only does a title exam research a property’s legal ownership, but it also looks for other potential problems such as judgments, federal and state tax liens, delinquent property taxes, civil suits, and other potential defects and issues. Any of these problems could drastically affect a closing, which is why it’s so important to research them as soon as possible in the closing process.
Additionally, we cannot issue a title insurance policies without researching the current state of the property’s title first.
In other words, the title exam is super important.
For Savannah counties, the typical turnaround time for a title exam is usually two to four business days. Counties outside the Savannah area may take longer, as may any property with significant title issues.
Title orders can be rush ordered and, depending upon the county, the exam may come back the same day.
A Mail-away Closing is one in which one or more of the parties is most often, though not necessarily, out-of-state and asks if closing documents can be emailed to them to be executed in front of a notary or other signing service. Unfortunately, the ethical permissibility of these types of closings is suspect at best and we can’t use mobile notary or similar services for closings. As a recent Chair of the Real Property Section of the State Bar said: “our Formal Advisory Opinions also do not currently sanction remote closings.”
Georgia is an attorney state, and real estate closings are considered the practice of law. Consequently, closings must be conducted, and all the documents signed, in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
In fact, both the Georgia State Bar and Supreme Court have consistently said that a Georgia attorney must be physically present at closing:
A lawyer cannot delegate to a nonlawyer the responsibility to “close” the real estate transaction without the participation of an attorney. Formal Advisory Opinion No. 86-5 also provides that “Supervision of the work of the paralegal by the attorney must be direct and constant to avoid any charges of aiding the unauthorized practice of law.” The lawyer’s physical presence at a closing will assure that there is supervision of the work of the paralegal which is direct and constant. Supreme Court of Georgia, Formal Advisory Opinion 00-3. (Emphasis added).
The Supreme Court of Georgia additionally wrote:
…We have issued formal advisory opinions which confirmed that a lawyer cannot delegate responsibility for the closing of a real estate transaction to a non-lawyer and required the physical presence of an attorney for the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance (including, but not limited to, a warranty deed, limited warranty deed, quitclaim deed, security deed, and deed to secure debt). Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
The Ethics Committee of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia also states that an attorney must
“attend the closing of the transaction. An attorney must be physically present at the closing of a transaction and may not telephonically supervise a nonlawyer officiating at the closing.” Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, Residential Real Estate Closing Procedure Handbook. (Emphasis added).
Not only is an Georgia lawyer’s presence required when closing documents are signed, the Georgia Supreme Court approved an advisory opinion by the Georgia State Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law that found that the preparation and execution of a deed of conveyance by a non-lawyer represented the unauthorized practice of law:
We have consistently held that it is the unauthorized practice of law for someone other than a duly-licensed Georgia attorney to close a real estate transaction or to prepare or facilitate the execution of such deed(s) for the benefit of a seller, borrower, or lender. Supreme Court of Georgia, In Re: UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2. (Emphasis added).
This position is shared by the Real Property Section, which maintains that remote notary closings “encourage the unauthorized practice of law.”
Ultimately, at the least, an attorney would not be satisfying his or her ethical obligations by merely sending closing documents to be signed in front of a mobile notary or other similar service. At the worst, an attorney could be seen as aiding the unauthorized practice of law by doing so. There’s unfortunately no way around it: Closing documents simply must be signed in a Georgia lawyer’s presence.
With modern communication technology like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other video conferencing services, this ethics rule may seem a bit outdated. We sure think so, anyway. And with that in mind, the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar recently asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reconsider their ruling requiring a lawyer’s physical presence when the closing documents are signed. The Supreme Court declined to do so.
So where does that leave someone who isn’t able to come to closing? Unfortunately there are few options. One is to find a licensed Georgia lawyer who is willing to oversee the execution of the closing documents. This is likely to be both difficult and prohibitively expensive. After all, there’s an additional set of attorney’s fees to be paid.
The second option is to appoint an attorney-in-fact who will attend closing and sign all of the closing documents. Using a power of attorney for closing is super easy. And it’s free. We never charge for drafting one.
Or, the simplest solution of all is to make sure everyone can attend closing.
Checks are written after closing as soon as we have both collected funds and the lender’s authorization to disburse. For more information, please feel free to request a copy of our funding and good funds notices.
You can request to schedule a closing at any time. However, any closing you schedule will be subject to the Lender’s final approval.
We do prefer that closings be scheduled at least one business day in advance, but understand and will work with you to accommodate same-day scheduling, if at all possible.
We also encourage you to schedule closings for sale transactions earlier in the day in order to allow for sufficient time for funding.
Title policies are underwritten by Chicago Title Insurance Company and always include gap coverage. When both an Owner’s and Lender’s policy are being issued, we apply a simultaneous-issue discount to the cost of the owner’s policy.
Want to know how much your title insurance will be? Contact us and we will do the calculations for you!
