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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 your client 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 the 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 can conduct your closing with someone acting as your client’s attorney-in-fact.

Yes, the 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 and 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:

• Your time is valuable. Think email first! Email is the most efficient way for everyone to communicate. Think about it: If you have a question, how long does it take call, sit on hold, and then wait for an answer? Even though we’re primarily digital, things do take time. That means someone is likely to listen to hold music. Sound like fun? Now compare how long it takes to send an email. We guess you’ll spend much less time dashing off a quick message to us.

• Use the reply button! If your first thought upon getting an email from us is “well, I should just give them a call about things,” then you should probably reconsider that. By the time you get an email from us, we’ve already moved on. Really. It’s not you, it’s us. We’re sorry. We’re working on a lot of closings at any one time and send out many emails every day. When you use the reply button, you get straight to the point, your message goes directly to the person who emailed you, and there’s a written record of everything to put it all in perspective quickly.

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.

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 stars align, then things can happen in just days. We’ve handled 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 have other obligations. Sometimes life just happens. Whatever the reason, we’ll work with you to get you your commission.
So, what are your options?

• Come by later. Can’t get to closing, but can come to our office afterwards? No problems. We can hold on to your check for you!
• Mail it. Email us your address, and we will happily mail your commission to you.

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 usually OK.

If 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.

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 for your client. Using an attorney-in-fact for closing can be easy.

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.

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 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!