Escrow and title

What exactly do we do?

As a dedicated escrow and title company, we have two key objectives in a standard transaction:

The first, which has to do with the title aspect of our work, is making sure you know as much as possible about the current state, as well as any important history, of your property. In order to accomplish this, we first conduct extensive examinations of county records. These records disclose important information like transfers between individuals and potential liens or encumbrances, such as easements or restrictions for construction. In the case of a sale or refinance, we also search for any applicable judgments or bankruptcies related to the individuals involved. We leave no stone unturned so as to better guarantee to you that the title to your property is free and clear.

Once this examination is complete, we condense all of the information onto a single document - the title report, or, when the transaction is to be insured, the Commitment for Title Insurance. This document outlines all information related to the transaction, most notably the current status of title and any potential issues that need to be addressed, like the payoff of an existing home loan. Once this report has been issued, we can begin to pursue our second key objective, fulfillment of our escrow services.

What is escrow?

Escrow is a legal arrangement in which a third party receives and disburses collateral (money, property) for/to the primary parties in the transaction, said disbursement being dependent on contractual conditions being met by the parties.

Let’s put that simply. In a standard real estate sale transaction there are two main parties, the buyer and the seller. While they each desire two separate things, the buyer wanting a new piece of land and the seller wanting compensation for land they currently own, they both have essentially the same end goal - a successful, mutually beneficial transfer of property. We act as the third party, accommodating this by means of a standardized process.

With the title report in hand, we begin addressing those potential issues that have been brought up - we order payoffs for home loans, we reach out to homeowner’s associations to gather important information, we obtain and share information regarding easements, etc. We do our best to make sure these issues have been given the proper attention and are resolved by the contractual settlement date. When the time comes, we facilitate the signing of closing documents, as well as receive and hold the purchase funds from the buyer (and/or lender when applicable). We then make sure that the amount of money received balances with the amount of money needed to pay the seller what they are owed, as well as paying off any remaining debts related to the property and transaction.

Once all contractual conditions are met and we’ve been notified that all terms have been met to the satisfaction of all parties, we record the Warranty Deed, the document that transfers ownership of the property. Once the deed is recorded, the property legally belongs to the buyer, and we are free to disburse funds to the seller. We also handle disbursements of funds for other outstanding balances, so that both buyer and seller can be at ease knowing that everything financially related to the transaction has been taken care of.