Role of the Closing Attorney

Today is finally the big day - you are going to buy or sell your new home! The closing is scheduled at your closing attorney's office for 2:00 pm, but what role does the closing attorney & his office play in getting you to your 2:00 pm closing?

One of the first things the closing attorney does is run a title abstract which is essentially a purchase & sales history of your home. They need to verify that all the previous sales transactions were completed and recorded correctly with the Clerk of Court.

One of the next steps is verification of the seller's identities and confirming that they are the true owners of the home and have the ability to sell the house.

During the final week before closing, things get hectic and busy! Your closing attorney is working with the buyer's lender to collect all the documents the lender will require to be signed at closing. They are also coordinating with the lender regarding all the financial details for the buyer's loan. On the seller's side, they are confirming the loan payoff amount (if any) on the seller's mortgage loan so they can begin to calculate the net funds due to the seller at closing.

Finally, they prepare the closing disclosures for the sale. The closing disclosure is a complete accounting, on both the buyer and seller side, for the sale. It will show how much money the buyer may need to bring to the closing table to close, real estate commissions, property tax and other prorations, title insurance coverages/charges and final seller proceeds.

2:00 pm is here!! First the buyers go in with their agent and the closing attorney to sign the mountain of loan documents from the lender which can take up to 30 minutes. Then the sellers come into the room with their agent and both parties sign the cash sale, closing disclosure and some other supporting documents. The lender has sent over their closing funds and the closing attorney has collected any funds due from the buyer & seller.

After everything has been signed, the closing attorney sends the documents over to the lender for a final review and approval. Once approved, the closing attorney closes the sale, hands out commission checks to the real estate agents and seller proceeds to the seller and the buyer gets the keys to their new home!

Commerce Title is one of the oldest and largest title companies in Baton Rouge and my go-to closing company. They have multiple locations around the city for their closings as well. Parker Marschall at the Bluebonnet is the man and I highly recommend him to handle closings!

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