Buyer

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 the buyer 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.

Unfortunately, we can’t simply email closing documents for you to sign in front of a witness and a Notary Public. There are strict ethical requirements on how everything must be executed, and that means a Georgia licensed attorney must be physically present when all the papers are signed. Closings are considered the practice of law here in Georgia, and a lawyer has to be there when ink is put on paper. 

So, what documents specifically require the physical presence of an attorney when signed? The Georgia Supreme Court lists a warranty deed, limited warranty deed, quitclaim deed, security deed, or deed to secure debt as all needing to be executed in front of a Georgia lawyer. If any of these are being signed, then it has to happen with a Georgia lawyer. Not only that, but the Court has 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.” That means if a notary is getting a deed signed, they’re engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. That’s bad.

That said, there is an option if you’re not able to come to closing. You can possibly name an attorney-in-fact! If and whenever possible, we’d love to conduct your closing with someone acting as your attorney-in-fact for you.

Even though we can’t just email documents for you to sign with a notary, we will happily work with you to find a way for your closing to happen as conveniently as possible!

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 acting as your 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 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 of 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.

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, LLC 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.

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 in the sky, then things can happen in just days. We’ve handled many 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 ask 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 thousand dollars, personal checks are generally fine. For amounts above five thousand dollars, you should either bring certified funds or have funds directly wired into our IOLTA 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. But, once you receive our wiring instructions, please call the office to confirm the information on the wiring instructions.

Checks should be made payable to Law Offices of Jordan Dyke, LLC.

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 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 buyer 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 pendens 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 buyer 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 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 you. Using an attorney-in-fact for closing can be super easy.

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!