Our office has been engaged by your lender to handle a mortgage loan to purchase a property. We will examine the title and order the necessary information to complete the closing.
Please review the lender’s commitment letter carefully. If special conditions are required, they must be met to the satisfaction of your lender prior to closing.
If this is your first home purchase, or perhaps you haven’t purchased a new home in a while, the process may seem complicated. We will lessen any confusion and make your purchase as smooth as possible.
As the lender’s closing attorney, we represent the interests of the lender. Nontheless, our office can serve you, even if we are handling the closing for your new lender, for a reasonable fee and give you the comfort you need to proceed confidently to a closing.
Homestead declaration
Our office can prepare a Homestead Declaration for you for this transaction if the home you are purchasing will be your primary residence. Under Massachusetts Law, home owners who intend to occupy it as their principal residences can protect a portion of the equity in their home from creditors by filing a Declaration of Homestead at the Registry of Deeds where the property is located. The cost for this service is $135, which includes the cost to prepare the Declaration and the recording fee.
What you should know about closing attorneys and the closing process
Your application to your lender for a home mortgage loan leads you to the closing attorney’s office. You may have questions about what the role of the closing attorney is, what tasks the closing attorney will perform and what will take place at the closing. First, the closing attorney represents the interests of your lender. If your loan is a standard secondary market type loan, the loan transaction and loan documentation are uniform throughout the state.
Sometimes issues arise regarding the title to the property. If there are title questions, problems in a sale, or issues involving inaccuracies, we will keep the borrower (you) informed. When possible, we seek to resolve title issues and disputes, many times without any additional fees.
The closing fees quoted to you by your lender cover a variety of items. Those that involve our office include:
- Legal Fee: Ordering and obtaining a title examination from title examiners at the various Registry of Deeds, title review, obtaining municipal lien information and survey information, loan document preparation, title certification ( if a purchase transaction ), communication with borrowers, sellers, and brokers conducting the closing, final rundown of title, recording of documents, payoff of liens and other matters related to the loan closing.
- Title Abstract: This involves the physical review of the title to your property in the Registry of Deeds and Probate, including bankruptcy and tax matters where applicable.
- Mortgage Survey Plan: Sometimes referred to as a plot plan, this is a tape measure survey of the land to be mortgaged in order to determine that it was not in violation of zoning when constructed and that no buildings or improvements encroach upon the property or over its lot lines. We may not have been instructed by your lender to order such a plan for this transaction. However, we do recommend that one be obtained in a purchase transaction. In a Condominium sale we will generally not obtain such a plan.
- Municipal Lien Certificate: This document identifies any outstanding tax and utility liens and is obtained from the city or town where the property is located.
- Title Insurance: The lender may require title insurance for the loan amount in order to protect its interests from issues related to the title to the property that could not be determined from an examination of the record of the title. In a purchase transaction, an owner’s policy can be purchased at the same time at substantial savings over the rate if the insurance is bought after the closing. Owner’s title insurance is highly recommended by us.
- Recording/Closing Costs: These include fees to deliver the mortgage payoff and loan documentation safely and in a timely manner, to record the mortgage and other transactional documents, and obtain Registry certified copies that may be required in certain transactions.
The above is a list of some of the items that you may be asked to pay for in a normal residential loan transaction. In some cases, your lender may pay some or all of these costs based on your loan.
When these matters are completed and reviewed by our staff, we will arrange a time and location to close your loan at an office or at a location that you choose. We will also advise you of any funds you may need to provide to complete the transaction. You must bring CERTIFIED or BANK CASHIER’S CHECK made payable to The Law Office of Lloyd H. Teitelbaum for these funds. In addition, you must bring a valid drivers license or passport with you to the closing for proper identification. We cannot close your transaction without this.
264 North Main Street | Natick, MA 01760 | Tel: 508-655-9898 | Fax: 508-655-9805 | lteitelbaum@lhtlaw.com
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