Frequently Asked Questions

Q.  Why Do I need a lawyer for my closing?

A.
Conducting a real estate closing is the practice of law, which only an attorney can do. In North Carolina, your mortgage lender will require that an attorney be selected to conduct the closing. Also, North Carolina real estate law is quite complex and you need an attorney to examine the title records for prior conveyances, liens, encumbrances, and errors in the deeds in the chain of title.

Your attorney then negotiates with the title insurance company for insurance coverage insuring your title against adverse claims of ownership, liens, and easements. Unlike other states, the closing attorney in North Carolina is a totally separate party from the title insurance company. The actual 45 minute closing, where the closing documents are signed, represents only about one-fifth to one-tenth of the services your attorney is providing you for your real estate transaction.

Q. If I have to get a lawyer to do the closing, does that mean my closing costs are higher?

A. Definitely not! States like North Carolina, where a lawyer does the title examination and the closing, have the lowest closing costs in the nation. Realtors' commissions and mortgage lenders' origination fees go up over time, since they are based on a percentage of the sales price and loan amount, respectively. But North Carolina attorneys generally charge fixed closing fees, and these fees have not increased in the last 10 years (at least).

The lawyer's role in North Carolina closings gives the homebuyer another great advantage: Thanks to the skill and professionalism lawyers bring to the closing process, North Carolina has the lowest rate of post-closing title claims or disputes in the nation.

For a thoroughly researched article on this subject, comparing North Carolina to other states, by Chris Burti, Vice President and Legal Counsel of Statewide Title Insurance Company, click here.  If this does not work in your browser, try clicking here, or go to Statewide Title's home page and surf to Newsletters, then the December 1999 issue.  The article, entitled "Set the Record Straight," responded to to a factually misleading editorial that appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer; the editorial is reprinted in full on Statewide's page, below Mr. Burti's article.   

Q.   Can I, as the buyer, select the attorney of my choice for my closing?

A.
YES. If you are buying the property, you are paying the closing attorney. Don't let any involved party tell you you must use a certain attorney for your closing -- remember, the closing is for YOU, not for someone else who won't be living in your house or paying your mortgage. Choose a lawyer who will represent YOU -- not one who is trying to make someone else happy.   Your realtor or lender won't walk away from the deal if you insist on choosing the lawyer yourself. 

If they recommend a certain attorney, their recommendation is certainly worth considering.  But often a buyer finds out later (around closing time) that someone has already hired the lawyer for them, without telling them or making this clear, so be sure to speak up early in the process and communicate with everyone in the "loop."  Otherwise, sometimes around closing time, it turns out two separate lawyers have been hired, and each is preparing to do the closing!

Q.  Why should I retain Jeff H. Adams to do my closing?

A.
Jeff H. Adams, Attorney at Law has over sixteen years experience in North Carolina real estate law, and has supervised thousands of real estate closings and title examinations, all over North Carolina. His closings are pleasant, relaxed and worry-free, thanks to his vast experience as a real estate attorney. If there is ill will and tension at a closing, it usually comes from the frustration of dealing with an inexperienced attorney or other party. You will not experience any of this at Jeff H. Adams's closings. In addition, you will find his rates to be reasonable, probably the lowest anyone will quote you.

You will be offered good coffee at your closing with Jeff H. Adams, rather than the "convenience store" coffee offered at many offices.

Some lawyers in North Carolina have been more and more relying on independent, non-employee "free lance title abstractors" or "free lance paralegals" to whom they farm out their title examinations, rather than examining the title themselves or using supervised employee paralegals. The "abstractor" then examines and reports on the title, with little or no supervision from the lawyer, though the NC State Bar has proposed rules that this practice is unethical and unfair to clients. There is no licensing or training required to call yourself a "title abstractor," and I know from personal observation, that the product of these abstractors ranges from good and conscientious, to hopelessly inept and even "fly-by-night" – and that their use creates a much greater risk of title problems arising after closing. Examples I have seen are mortgages on the wrong property, property being conveyed that doesn't exist, buying property that still has an outstanding mortgage or that someone else still owns, etc.

In order to give my clients title opinions they can be confident in, I either examine the title personally or get another lawyer to do it, all at no greater expense to you, my client. Remember that even the most skilled and honest paralegal, whether "free lance" or in-house, is not a licensed attorney and may miss problems in the title that raise important legal issues-which is why the NC State Bar requires any attorney using them to also supervise their work. Would you like it if your dentist didn't look at your teeth, but only at a report faxed from a "free lance dental hygienist?"