Unless we are representing one of the other parties in your sale our office can represent you for a reasonable fee and give you the comfort you need to proceed confidently toward the sale of your home or investment property as well as in the purchase of any new real estate. Some of the services we provide when representing sellers are:

• Review of any agreement with a real estate broker or assistance in deciding whether you should sell the property yourself.
• Negotiation and preparation of the offer to purchase and purchase and sale agreement to protect your interests and concerns.
• Resolve issues which may arise during the pendency of your sale.
• Explain the mortgage process and assist you in understanding just what your buyer’s lender’s requirements mean to you.
• Assist you in resolving and clearing any issues that may be found in the examination of your property’s title.
• Prepare the deed from you to your buyer.
• Assist in the coordination of the closing and represent you at the closing, review all closing documents and explain their meaning and significance to you.
• Answer questions you might have and resolve disputes that may arise at any time during the closing process.

Please call our office to discuss how we can represent you and what are fees are for this service. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post Representing Your Interests as the Seller appeared first on KSR Law.

Your visiting this site has probably been prompted by the fact that our office has been asked to handle the closing of the sale of your property in connection with a mortgage being granted to your buyer. There are some matters that we will require in order to expedite the transaction and prevent delays or extra costs to you. They are listed below.

Please also remember that you must bring a valid drivers license or passport with you to closing for proper identification. The closing cannot take place if you do not have this identification with you.

In order to insure a smooth closing, we would like to review the following information

1. MORTGAGES: If your property is presently mortgaged, the mortgage(s) will be paid off at the time of closing using proceeds from the sale, if any. Please provide information regarding this mortgagee, as well as equity mortgagees, in order that we may contact the mortgagee(s) and make the necessary arrangements for payment. This is very important and requires your immediate attention. After your mortgages have been paid in full, the banks will send us discharges which we will record at the Registry of Deeds.

In the event there is a non-institutional mortgage (i.e. one given to a private individual, trust or corporation as opposed to a bank or loan company), we will require that the payoff amount be furnished to us before the closing and a discharge be delivered at or before the closing. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE CAN BE NO EXCEPTION IN THIS REGARD. If you are uncertain about whether an outstanding loan is held by a private lender, please contact our office or have your attorney do so. The obligation to furnish a discharge at closing applies also to outstanding attachments or other liens, if any.

2. DEED: The preparation of a new deed to convey the premises to the buyer is your responsibility. You should have your attorney send us a copy of the proposed deed as soon as possible and before the closing date. While we cannot represent the buyer, their lender and you, we are sometimes asked to prepare a deed as part of our mortgage services. If you ask us to prepare your deed, there will be a charge to you for this service.

3. SMOKE AND CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR CERTIFICATE: If your property is in Massachusetts we call to your attention the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 148, Sections 26F and 26F 1/2. You should contact your local fire department, arrange for an inspection, obtain a certificate of compliance and bring it with you at the time set for closing.

4. ELECTRICITY, WATER, SEWER, FUEL: If your electricity is provided by a municipal plant, you must bring with you a final electric reading. Similarly, your fuel oil readings if your property is serviced by oil, should also be brought to closing so that appropriate adjustments can be made.

5. EXPENSES: You will also be required to pay any applicable Excise and transfer taxes, recording fees to discharge mortgages and other liens and, where appropriate, to pay these items from the proceeds of the sale.

6. POWER OF ATTORNEY: If there is a power of attorney involved, please send our office a copy of the power of attorney document prior to the closing. The use of the power of attorney will have to be approved by our client and then the form and content thereof must be reviewed by our office. In any event, the deed transferring title from you to the Buyer must be signed by you in the original and notarized.

7. CONDOMINIUM UNITS: If the transaction involves a condominium unit, you are required to provide a certificate that states any unpaid common expenses which have been assessed to the unit owner. You will also be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance naming, as insureds, the buyer and their lender and its successors and assigns as their interest may appear. It is imperative that the foregoing language be on the certificate of insurance. The manager of the condominium can assist you in this matter.

8. SALE PROCEEDS: If the closing takes place in our office, we will make every attempt to record papers and disburse funds as soon as reasonable. However, no matter where this transaction closes your funds will not be released to you until the deed and mortgage have been recorded at the appropriate Registry of Deeds. Your proceeds will be issued to you by a check drawn on our Trust Account.

9. FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN REAL PROPERTY TAX ACT OF 1980 AS AMENDED: This Federal Law places special requirements for tax reporting and withholding on the parties to a real estate transaction under certain circumstances as set forth in the law. You should seek the advice of your attorney or accountant concerning the effect of this Act on this transaction. You will be required to execute a copy of the enclosed certification under penalty of perjury at the closing. If you do not plan on attending the closing, please be sure that your attorney or agent delivers the fully completed and executed copy of the affidavit along with the deed. The closing attorney for the firm can not and will not provide information, advice or opinions regarding the Actâs applicability to you or to this transaction.

10. FEDERAL TAX LAWS. Since January 1, 1986 Federal Law requires the closing attorney to report the proceeds of the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service.

11. TITLE EXAMINATION. Please note that if, as the result of searching the title or we discover that there are any deficiencies or defects, they are not our responsibility to correct. We will require the owner of the property to clear such matters before we can proceed to close the transaction.

12. CLOSING. You should also be aware that most lenders require 72 hours notice in advance of the day of closing to prepare the loan papers and to obtain the funds. When applicable, there is no exception to this requirement, and it is therefore incumbent upon you to coordinate scheduling of the passing not only with our office but with the buyers and brokers as well.

13. CORPORATIONS AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES: If you hold title to the property in a corporation or limited liability company name you should immediately take steps to secure the following documents:

1. a Certificate of Legal Existence from the appropriate State authority;
2. a waiver of any corporate excise tax

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SEE THAT THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS ARE MET TO AVOID DELAY, INCONVENIENCE AND UNNECESSARY EXPENSE TO YOU.

The post Important Information Regarding the Sale of Your Home appeared first on KSR Law.

If this is your first home purchase, or perhaps you haven’t purchased a new home in a while, the process may seem confusing. We hope that our office can make the entire purchase process easy and enjoyable for you. There are a few things to remember.

First, understand that the lender’s closing attorney, and this includes our office if we are representing your new lender, represents the interests of the lender. Therefore, it is not the responsibility of lender’s counsel to advise you on your rights and obligations regarding your new home purchase. Because of this we highly recommend that your retain your own attorney to represent your interests in this process. Our office can represent 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 toward the purchase of your new home. Some of the services we provide when representing buyers are:

• Negotiation and preparation of the offer to purchase and purchase and sale agreement to protect your interests and concerns.
• Resolve issues which may arise during the pendency of your purchase and assist you if you are selling real estate to purchase your new home.
• Explain the mortgage process and assist you in understanding just what the lender’s commitment letter says.
• Assist in the coordination of the closing and represent you at the closing, review all closing documents and explain their meaning and significance to you.
• Answer questions you might have and resolve disputes that may arise at any time during the closing process.

Please call our office to discuss how we can represent you and what are fees are for this service. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post Representing the Interests of the Home Buyer appeared first on KSR Law.

A buyer purchasing real estate is offered the opportunity to purchase an owner’s policy of title insurance by the settlement agent, attorney, escrow company or title agent conducting the real estate closing. For example, you decide to purchase a house in Boston and are obtaining a mortgage to help you finance the purchase from a bank or mortgage company. That institution will require an examination of the title to the property and have party reviewing the title issue to them a lender’s policy of title insurance insuring that the property is or will be owned by the purchaser, that there are no defects, liens or encumbrances on the property which would adversely affect the marketability of its title and that the mortgage is recorded properly and secures the property for the repayment of the loan. Since the settlement agent, attorney, escrow agent or title agent is already issuing a lender’s policy of title insurance the buyer has the opportunity at that time to obtain an owner’s policy of title insurance at a cost substantially less than the buyer would pay if the policy was not written simultaneously with the lender’s policy.

The owner’s policy of title insurance insures that the owner has good marketable title to the property free of any encumbrances or liens that would adversely affect the property, except those made known to the buyer, and insures to the owner that if any such liens, encumbrances, defects or other title problems become known the title insurer will defend the buyer’s title to the property.

In many instances we are asked whether or not title insurance is necessary or advisable for the owner to purchase. We recommend the purchase of the title insurance for some very simple reasons. First, the premium for purchase of the title insurance policy is a one time charge. Since the purchaser is usually borrowing money to finance the purchase, the majority of the cost of the title insurance policy that the owner would receive has been paid through the premiums for the lender’s policy which is required by the loan. Usually for a few hundred dollars or less the owner can insure against a variety of problems which could occur in the future. These items include forged documents in the chain of title, signatures of mentally incompetent persons or minors which are unknown to the party reviewing the title, mistakes or inaccuracies in recording of legal documents of title at the appropriate place or recording or registration of title, fraud in the execution or in the handling of the recording or indexing of recorded documents, undisclosed or missing heirs, fraud in the execution or in the handling of a transaction in the prior chain of title, invalid divorces or misrepresentation of marital status of the parties signing the documents, and most importantly clerical errors in the public records and claims of parties unknown because their claims have not been filed in any indices of public record.

Even though the buyer may be asked to pay for the lender’s title insurance protection, the lender’s policy of title insurance does not protect the buyer and a claim can only be made if the lender suffers a financial loss because of a title defect that adversely affects a foreclosure of the buyer’s mortgage. There have been many of defects in titles which could not be revealed by an examination of the public records. These defects usually arise at a time after the transaction has taken place and purchasers can suffer significant losses as a result of them. That is why owner’s title insurance makes a great deal of sense.

The post What is Title Insurance? appeared first on KSR Law.

Your application to your lender for a home mortgage loan leads you inevitably to the closing attorney’s office. You undoubtedly have questions as to what the role of the closing attorney is, what tasks the closing attorney will perform and what will take place at the closing. First, understand that the closing attorney represents the interests of the lender. However, if your loan transaction is a common Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac/FHA transaction the loan documentation and the promises and obligations you are asked to make are uniform throughout the state and in most instances throughout the country. Therefore, your interests are protected by the uniformity of the documents you will be asked to sign and their regulation by state and federal agencies.

Our firm makes every effort to assist borrowers in the mortgage loan transaction. Sometimes issues arise regarding the record title to a borrower’s property. If there are title issues or issues involving inaccuracies, we endeavor to satisfy the borrower and keep them informed of all relevant issues. When possible, we seek to resolve title issues and disputes as reasonably as possible.

The fees quoted to you by your lender include a variety of items. Those which involve our office may include the following and are standard transactional items for representing the lender in residential loan transactions:

Legal Fee – May include any or all of the following: obtaining a title examination from title examiners at the various Registry of Deeds, title review, obtaining municipal lien information & survey information, loan document preparation, title certification, communications with borrowers, sellers, broker, etc., conducting closing, payoff of all liens and sundry other matters relating to the loan closing.

Title Abstract – A review of the title to property.

Mortgage Survey Plan ( if required ) – Sometimes referred to as a plot plan, this is a tape measure survey of the land to be mortgaged 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.

Municipal Lien Information – Obtained from the city or town where the property lies including all outstanding tax and utility liens.

Title Insurance – The lender requires a loan policy of title insurance for the loan amount in order to protect their interests from issues relating to the title to the property that could not be determined from an examination of the record of the title.

Recording Costs/Courier & Certified Copy Fees – These include the cost to courier the mortgage payoff and loan documentation for safe and timely delivery, to record the mortgage and other transactional documents and obtaining Registry certified copies that may be required in certain transactions.

This is a list of some of the items that you may be asked to pay in a normal residential loan transaction. In the case of a no point/no closing cost transaction your lender will pay these costs. This explanation should serve as a brief overview of the items described above. For a further explanation please contact your lender or our office.

The mortgage loan closing process may sometimes seem complicated and confusing. However, you will find that a few minutes of simple explanation can almost always relieve any anxiety or confusion about the process. We look forward to seeing you at your closing.

The post The Closing Process appeared first on KSR Law.

First, please make sure you contact us to discuss your closing and the information we will need from you.  Also, please read the section entitled The Closing Process to get a better idea of what’s ahead.

I’m purchasing a home and I don’t have my own attorney – do I need one or will your firm watch out for my interests at closing?

If we have advised you that we have been retained by your new mortgage lender to conduct the closing of your real estate transaction and mortgage then we do not represent you. However, you may retain our services to represent your interests at the closing. Please read the section entitled Representing The Interests of the Homebuyer for more details about this service.

Can you explain the closing process and the functions that your office performs as closing attorney?

We will handle all of the major tasks in closing your purchase and mortgage or refinance mortgage transaction. See the section entitled  The Closing Process for more information.

I’m selling my property – do I need a real estate broker?

Unless you are familiar with the process of selling real estate and have the time and energy to advertise and show your property to a number of prospective buyers we recommend that you engage the services of a good real estate broker in your city or town. If you feel confident that you can handle these tasks yourself our office can work with you to prepare the legal documents and provide the legal advice necessary in such a transaction.

The post Real Estate FAQs appeared first on KSR Law.

As you may know, our office represents your lender in the mortgage loan you have applied for to purchase your new home. We have commenced an examination of the title, ordered tax information from the Collector of Taxes and a mortgage survey plan for the lender’s records. When these items are completed and reviewed by our staff, we will notify you to arrange a convenient time to close the loan. We will also advise you of any funds you may need to complete the transaction. All funds must be sent by WIRE TRANSFER. We do not accept checks of any kind. In addition, you must bring with you to closing a valid drivers license or passport for proper identification. We cannot close your transaction without same. Please do not forget as this is very important.

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.

Please review the following instructions with respect to additional requirements that must be met prior to closing. Respond to each item applicable to your situation either on this web site or in writing. If you have any questions or comments relative to the loan transaction, please do not hesitate to contact us by telephone or by e-mail.

1. INSURANCE. (a) At the time of closing, please bring with you a fire and extended coverage insurance policy or binder for such insurance in an amount at least equal to the total of all outstanding mortgages on the property or 100% of the replacement cost of all insurable buildings and other improvements on the land, whichever is less. IF YOU ARE GOING TO RELY ON THE 100% REPLACEMENT COST AMOUNT AS SUFFICIENT INSURANCE, THEN THE POLICY OR BINDER MUST STATE THAT 100% REPLACEMENT COST IS IN EFFECT. (b) The insurance policy or binder must name all of the persons who will hold title to the property. (c) The mortgage clause adding the mortgagee’s insurable interest to all policies MUST BE WORDED in accordance with the instructions listed in your commitment letter issued by your lender. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE ABOVE LANGUAGE BE ON YOUR INSURANCE BINDER. Your insurance agent MUST fax or deliver to our office a copy of a binder for such insurance along with a receipt showing that the first year’s premium is paid in full, at least three(3) business days prior to closing.

2. FLOOD INSURANCE. If the premises is located within a specially designated federal (HUD) flood hazard area (Zone A) then flood insurance is a mandatory requirement and you must provide a flood insurance policy application together with a paid receipt for the full first year’s premium at or before the closing. Please note that if the premises is located within zone B, flood insurance is not required although it is highly recommended.

3. RENT LOSS INSURANCE. If this transaction involves a loan on investment premises then rent loss insurance may be required and an appropriate binder to that effect will be required at or prior to closing. You should check with the Lender for applicability of rent loss insurance to you.

4. TITLE INSURANCE. A lender’s policy of title insurance is required for this transaction which we will obtain at your expense. You may wish to purchase an owner’s policy of title insurance, which we can obtain on your behalf. If so, our office can certify the title to a title insurance company. The premium for an owner’s policy of title insurance can be quoted to you by calling the paralegal in our office handling your file. We highly recommend obtaining Owners Title Insurance.

5. MANNER IN WHICH TITLE WILL BE HELD. For an explanation of some options for how to hold title to real estate please contact our office. This information should be provided to us as quickly as possible since it is required for many documents which we prepare.

6. OUR CERTIFICATE OF TITLE. If we are required to certify title to you under any applicable state law our certification to you should not be construed as establishing an attorney/client relationship between you and our office. The services we render are only on behalf of the mortgage lender unless you have retained our office to represent your individual interests as well, and we cannot advise or counsel you relative to the transaction. If you wish to obtain legal advice regarding the quality of the title or with regard to some other aspect of the transaction, you should retain independent counsel.

7. WATER, SEWER AND ELECTRICITY. You should ask the sellers to obtain a final reading of the water meter so that all outstanding water and sewer bills may be taken care of at the closing. If you are purchasing a condominium unit, it is likely that water and sewer charges are included in the monthly condominium fee. In that case, a final water and sewer bill is not required. If electricity is provided by a municipal light plant, the sellers should obtain a final electric reading.

The post Important information regarding your closing appeared first on KSR Law.