Summer 2026

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the famous statement “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately”. (He also said, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after 3 days”, but that is perhaps for a future article). Of course, he was referring to the fact that by signing the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers had committed treason against the King and would literally be hung if they did not stick together, work together, and win the Revolution. Translated for a business context, the statement might go something like this: “We must all work together as a team or we will fail”. In other words, teamwork is essential for a successful business. In our business, like in most I suppose that teamwork may not be readily apparent to the customer.  Customers have contact with the closer, processor or, a salesperson on a transaction and that’s it. Now, it is my feeling that our closers, processors, and salespeople are outstanding and the best in the business. However, they don’t operate in a vacuum and need support from other departments in order to have success with their clients.  One such department is our Production office, and I wanted to talk about them just a bit here. The Production office is responsible for checking the public records (yes, “public” records. No information we research is private). They verify that the seller who signed the contract actually owns the property (they sometimes don’t believe it or not). Production also, of course, must find all the liens, judgments, restrictions, easements that affect the property, many of which are online, but not all, and issue a title commitment that is required by the title company closer, agent, lender, and surveyor in order to do their jobs to get the transaction to closing. Anyway, it is a critical component to the settlement process that I think David Large and Ben Hughes, our Production Managers, and their team handle very well. Likewise, the idea of teamwork also should apply to title companies, individual closers, lenders, and agents. They, too, must work together and cooperate, just as our departments must internally, in order for deals to go smoothly. Too often, however, when a problem comes up on a transaction and ends up on my desk, what I see is people, and/or companies, trying to avoid blame and engaging in a battle of “one-upmanship” (is that a word?) rather than focusing on what the problem is and how to solve it.  Sometimes determining fault is important because that can determine who should take responsibility and solve the problem. Mostly, though, I find that the issue is very simple to fix but has been overshadowed by days of back-and-forth emails that do nothing but cause a delay in resolving the issue and moving forward. This year should be very busy and there seems to be more issues on transactions than ever before. So, to all the title companies, closers, lenders, agents, and everyone else involved in the settlement process I say let’s focus not just on recognizing that a problem exists on a deal, that’s easy. The focus should be on the solution. I will now step down from my soapbox and simply say have a great rest of the summer. 

Spring 2026

Consumers (in other words, buyers and sellers) expect us to know certain basic things about our business. They are entitled to do that because we all hold ourselves out to be professionals and experts in our field.  Knowing the Residential Sales Contract and how to apply at least some of its provisions to real situations is very important and expected.  Not long ago we had the buyer’s side of a closing, and the sellers were closing at a different title company.  All the documents were signed, and we wired the funds to the seller’s title company.  It was late in the day, so it was too late for the seller’s side company to wire the seller’s proceeds to the seller.  The seller was very adamant about receiving his money before the buyer could move in and instructed the Listing Agent to tell the buyer’s side that the buyer could not take possession as a result.  The discussion and dispute went back and forth for about 45 minutes with the buyer’s side adamantly arguing that the deal was closed because the funds had been wired to the seller’s title company.  The seller and their lawyer, who by this time was involved, was equally adamant that pursuant to the definition of closing in the contract, the “exchange of the deed for the purchase price,” as stated in the contract, does not happen until the seller receives their funds which had not occurred.  So, how do we conclusively determine whether the deal is closed or not?  Is there a way?  Yes Virginia, there is a way.  The Residential Sale Contract states at line 75 in the CLOSING AND POSSESSION paragraph, “Seller shall be deemed to have received funds when funds are received by Seller or Seller’s title company.”  So, while the buyer’s side had the right answer, they did not have the authority to back it up.  As a result, the seller was not convinced until we pointed out what the contract provides.  The moral of the story?  It is critical to know what is in the contract.  Particularly certain key provisions such as Closing and Possession, Title and Survey, Inspections, Adjustments and Closing Costs.  So, in your spare time (which I know you don’t really have), take a look at the contract.  There’s some useful stuff in there. 

I hope everyone is having a good spring and we look forward to seeing you at our offices or at an event.

Winter 2025

I hope the Holidays are treating everyone well and that the stress that can plague so many around this time of year does not trouble you. 

If you think experience counts for anything (and trust me, it does) here’s an interesting statistic I wanted to share. Over 50% of our employees and Investors Title Company have been with us for more than 10 years. I think that says a lot about our company, the people that work here, and the level of service and expertise we can bring to our customers.      

So, when can an Escrow be used to solve a problem and get a deal closed? An “after closing” Escrow where the transaction closes but the seller places funds in Escrow to be disbursed as agreed in an Escrow Agreement can be a life saver on deals where the parties want or need to close but there are items still to be done. The most common, of course, are when the seller has not completed the repairs agreed upon in time for closing. Another prime candidate for an Escrow is when a lien on the property is disputed or there is a delay in obtaining a payoff. For instance, many Mechanic’s Liens that are filed are contested by the seller. A sufficient Escrow can give the seller time to dispute the Mechanic’s Lien and also give the title company sufficient security that funds are available to pay the lien if necessary. The same thing can be done when there is a judgment or even a Deed of Trust under the right circumstances. Essentially, when there is a problem that money alone can solve, an Escrow can work. There are situations where an escrow won’t work. By far the most common is where there is a dispute between the seller and a buyer under a previous contract. This previous buyer doesn’t want just money, they also want the property or their claim can’t be reduced to a firm dollar figure, if that previous buyer files suit and claims that the seller defaulted and they want not just money damages but the actual property as well, then an Escrow alone won’t solve that problem.

One key theme to keep in mind when you have an Escrow situation is that a contract amendment needs to be done to outline the agreement between the parties for the Escrow. The amendment can then be used as a basis for an Escrow Agreement prepared by the title company that is in line with what the parties want. Without the amendment, the terms of the Escrow Agreement might work for the title company but could conflict or be different than what one or both parties understand the agreement to be. This of course, could result in a dispute (which we all want to avoid).

Have a great Holiday season and rest of 2025. We are looking forward to 2026 and think it will be a good year. Thank you to all of our terrific clients and all of our wonderful employees who have supported us in 2025.  See you next year!