Bar Assn. Lawsuit Targets Kentucky Based Settlement Service Company Employing Local Contract Attorneys
As first reported today by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the bar association for Massachusetts real estate attorneys (REBA) has filed a lawsuit against National Loan Closers, Inc., a Kentucky closing services company, and a Holyoke attorney for allegedly conducting illegal “witness-only” real estate closings. REBA was behind last year’s landmark Supreme Judicial Court ruling in REBA v. National Real Estate Information Services, which held that Massachusetts attorneys are legally required to oversee all residential real estate closings in Massachusetts.
REBA’s suit against National Loan Closers is notable because NLC is alleged to have side-swiped the REBA v. NREIS court ruling by contracting with local attorneys to attend real estate closings. According to the suit, NLC’s model is for these contract attorneys to act similarly to the robo-signers who sign foreclosure documents, as they are simply there to witness and notarize documents and are contractually prohibited from giving legal advice to the parties at closing. Thus, this model runs afoul of the REBA ruling’s mandate that attorneys “substantially participate” in the closing process by reviewing the title and ensuring that title passes legally.
REBA argues, and I agree, that such closings put home buyers and mortgage lenders at risk, erode the public’s confidence in the state’s recording and registration system, and deprive the Massachusetts Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts program — IOLTA — of thousands of dollars of revenue.
No home buyer wants to close on the single biggest purchase of their life with a contract attorney who knows nothing about the transaction and cannot answer the most basic of legal questions. In the standard model, a supervisory Massachusetts attorney will examine the title and certify under state law that the title is good, clear and marketable, and often that same attorney (or a junior associate with full familiarity with the file and title) will be the closing attorney.
The complaint filed in The Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc. v. National Loan Closers Inc., et al. can be found by clicking here.
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