What areas do you service?
What is title insurance?
Do I need title insurance?
What are the current title insurance rates?
Do you accept personal checks?
What are Certified Funds?
What is “Good Funds”?
What happens at closing?
Who may handle closings?
Q: What areas do you service?
We service the entire state of Tennessee.
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Q: What is title insurance?
A title insurance policy is like any other insurance policy. The policy protects the insured (Buyer or Lender) by indemnifying them against actual losses caused by the presence of certain defects, liens and encumbrances that exist against the title as of the date of the policy and which are neither excepted or excluded from coverage. An example of an excepted encumbrance would be an easement running through the property. The policy would not protect the Lender or Owner with regard to future use of the easement, as it was a matter of public record at the time the policy was issued.
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Q: Do I need title insurance?
Fortunately for Homebuyers and Lenders, they need not rely solely on an attorney’s opinion or title examination for protection against title problems. No matter how diligent the attorney, there are matters that can arise after the closing that may require extreme measures to cure. For this reason, the Seller will generally provide a title insurance policy to protect the interests of the Buyers, and the Lender will require a title insurance policy to protect the Lender’s interest in the property.
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Q: What are the current title insurance rates?
You can calculate title insurance using the calculators linked below:
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Q: Do you accept personal checks?
In accordance with the Tennessee Good Funds Act, by law we are unable to accept any form of payment exceeding $500.00 unless payment is made by way of certified funds. For any amount in excess of $5,000.00 we require a wire transfer.
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Q: What are Certified Funds?
Certified Funds are funds in the form of any of the following:
- wire transfers;
- checks issued by the state or one of its political subdivisions;
- Cashier's checks;
- Teller's checks or other official checks issued by a financial institution and drawn on or payable through a financial institution within the same Federal Reserve check processing region as the location of the settlement agent; or
- checks issued by a federal government instrumentality organized under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (i.e. credit unions).
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Q: What is “Good Funds”?
The Residential Closing Funds Distribution Act of 2005 took effect September 1, 2005. It ensures that checks disbursed are backed by good funds at the time of closing.
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Q: What happens at closing?
A Closing Agent or Title Company is a disinterested third party that prepares and holds legal documents and funds on behalf of a buyer, seller and/or lender, and distributes them according to the buyer's, seller's, and/or Lender’s instructions.
People buying and selling real estate often open a sale transaction with the settlement agent for their protection and convenience. The buyer can instruct the settlement agent to disburse the purchase price only upon the satisfaction of certain prerequisites and conditions. The seller can instruct the settlement agent to retain possession of the deed to the buyer until the seller's requirements, including receipt of the purchase price, are met. Lenders can instruct not to disburse until the loan requirements are met by Buyers and Sellers. All of the parties to the transaction rely on the settlement agent to carry out faithfully their mutually consistent instructions relating to the transaction and to advise them if any of their instructions are not mutually consistent or cannot be carried out.
Lehman Title & Escrow provides professional settlement services that are a convenience for the buyer, seller and lender because everyone can move forward separately but simultaneously in providing inspections, reports, loan commitments and funds, deeds and many other items, using settlement as the central depositing point. If the instructions from all parties to the transaction are clearly drafted, fully detailed and mutually consistent, the settlement agent can take many actions on their behalf without further consultation.
The settlement process was developed to help facilitate the sale or purchase of your home. Lehman Title & Escrow, LLC accomplishes this by:
- Acting as a neutral party for depositing documents and funds
- Processing and coordinating the flow of documents and funds
- Keeping all parties informed of progress on the escrow
- Responding to the lender's requirements
- Obtaining approvals of reports and documents from the parties as required
- Prorating and adjusting insurance, taxes, rents, etc.
- Recording the deed and loan documents
- Maintaining security and accountability of monies owed and owing.
- Issuing a title insurance policy
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Q: Who may handle closings?
The settlement agent must be a disinterested third party and each state has different requirements for licensing. In some areas of the country, only a licensed attorney may act as the settlement agent. Tennessee does not require a licensed attorney to conduct closings, in many title companies across the state of Tennessee, closings are performed by non-attorney staff members, and an attorney may not even be located in the office. Lehman Title & Escrow, LLC is co-owned by two attorneys actively engaged in the business and they are available to close your transaction.
There are two important reasons for selecting an established company, such as Lehman Title & Escrow, LLC: 1) The processing and closing of real estate transactions require a tremendous amount of technical experience and knowledge; 2) The settlement agent is responsible for safe-guarding and properly distributing funds and documents required to successfully complete the transaction.
Settlement agents with established firms, such as Lehman Title & Escrow, LLC are experienced and trained in real estate procedures, taxes, deeds and title insurance. Real estate Attorneys, such as the ones at Lehman Title & Escrow, LLC are experienced in the legal technicalities that accompany buying, selling and owning real estate.
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