Think back to June of 2019, it’s Closing Day! Buyers, Sellers, Agents, Loan Officers, and Title Closers arrive at the closing table to sign closing documents. Buyers and Sellers are chatting about all things house-related and are exchanging keys/garage door openers. Agents are talking about the market and what they are experiencing. Loan Officers are answering any questions from the Buyer at the table. Title Closers are going over the documents with the Buyers and Sellers, once all documents are signed the Title Closers step out to make copies for all parties and send in funding documents to the Buyers Lender. Then once funding is approved and copies are made the Title Closers head back into the Closing room to go over copies, give proceeds checks, go over homesteading, etc.! The whole process for closings used to take an hour or longer for all parties involved, it was a great way to connect everyone but was a very time-consuming process for all!
Fast-forward to March of 2020, the entire Title Industry was thrown a curveball when COVID hit! Instead of doing closings the way they had been done for many years a shift had to take place. Title Closers had to quickly work together on how to still do closings while the world was shutting down. The Title Industry shifted to having all Sellers pre-sign their Closing Documents 4 to 5 days ahead of the scheduled Buyer side closing. Once signed all Seller original documents were then sent via overnight mail or courier service to the Buyers Title Company. The Buyer would then come in on the scheduled closing date to sign their documents, once the buyer signed and funding was approved from the buyer’s lender, the title closer then disburses all funds and copies. Things of the past are now done differently – keys/garage door openers are now left inside the house for the buyer, many sellers now receive wired funds from closing instead of a check. Agents and Loan Officers did have to stop attending closings for a period of time, but many are now back to attending closings with their Buyers or Sellers.
Now, here we are in early 2022 and yet another change is brewing in the Title Industry – Remote Online Notary closings! A Remote Online Notary closing is where a seller or buyer with proper approval from the Title Company, Lender, Underwriter, and County/State could sign from the comfort of their own home or poolside on a vacation. There are several requirements to be able to do a Remote Online Notary closing – the seller or buyer would need to meet all these requirements along with having the proper approval as mentioned above before the Title Closer could proceed with a Remote Online Notary closing. The Title Industry is already seeing a spike in these types of closings and is preparing to see many more of them in the next few years! Reach out to your local Results Title Closing office with any questions regarding Remote Online Notary Closings.