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Areas of Practice

  • Residential Purchase & Sales Transactions
  • Deeds, Easements, Licenses
  • Promissory Notes and Deeds of Trust
  • Leases
  • Transactional Advice
  • Escrow
  • Foreclosure and REO
  • Trustee Services
  • Adverse Possession
  • Business Opportunities
  • Power of Attorney
 

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What is Escrow

3rd Party Escrow

A neutral third party escrow is an essential but brief arrangement by which an independent party, known as an Escrow Agent (or a Settlement Provider or Closing Office) facilitates the transfer of property by collecting signed documents and funds from the Buyer and Seller for the purpose of closing a sale, exchange, or lease of real or personal property. The assigned escrow officer (in our case an attorney, LPO, or supervised paralegal), will then follow the instructions within the contract documents, distribute funds, and record the documents to complete the transaction on a specified date. When acting in this role as a neutral party, PNWLE does not represent any one party to the transaction and all parties are encouraged to seek independent legal advice prior to signing any document.

 

What to Expect

Buying or Refinancing a home? Here is what to expect from Escrow.

Typical Purchase

  1. Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed by all parties and delivered to escrow.
  2. Preliminary Title Report is ordered from title company.
  3. Copies of Title Report are sent to all parties along with letters of inquiry.
  4. Payoff figures and any other information necessary to clear title are obtained.
  5. Loan Documents from Buyers lender are received and reviewed*.
  6. Closing documents are prepared including a settlement statement.
  7. Individual Appointments are made with the Buyer(s) and Seller(s).
  8. Loan documents are signed and returned to lender for funding approval*.
  9. Original Deed and Deed of Trusts are sent to the County Recorder.
  10. Documents are recorded.
  11. Funds needed to close are received from lender and buyer.
  12. Funds are disbursed to clear, pay seller and closing costs.
  13. Final Closing Statement is mailed out.
  14. Reconveyance(s) is recorded when received from party(s) paid off.
  15. Owners Title Policy is mailed out*.

*All Seller financing would eliminate steps 5, 8 & 11 and all cash purchases would eliminate steps 5 & 8 and eliminate lender on step 11

Typical Refinance

  1. Lender or mortgage broker opens escrow.
  2. See steps 2 through 6 above.
  3. Appointment is made with the Borrower(s).
  4. Documents are signed and returned to the lender for approval.
  5. Original Deed of Trust is sent to the County Recorder.
  6. Document(s) are recorded.
  7. Funds needed to close are received from the lender.
  8. See steps 12-14 above.