Under Georgia law, an attorney is required to prepare many of the important documents related to the closing on your property. The attorney will ultimately be responsible for insuring that your property comes complete with a clean, clear title in your name, with no liens or taxes owed from the past.

Your real estate agent guided you through finding the house, negotiating the price and signing contracts. Your mortgage broker then helped you find the right financing for your new home, getting you approved and working with you to get the final terms for your loan. Even though you probably have not even talked on the phone yet, the closing attorney has been working behind the scenes for weeks, coordinating between the lender, the broker and the agents. When you finally get to the table, what you see is the results of everyone’s efforts in completing the purchase of your new home.

If you imagined your home purchase as a football game, your closing is fourth and goal at the one-yard line. The closing attorney is the quarterback, he huddles everyone together at the closing table, makes sure everything runs smoothly and hands you your keys at the end….touchdown!

Legally, the attorney’s function at the table is to represent the lender. In the process, the attorney will explain all of the documents you will be signing, the significance of each and why they are important. He will explain the terms of your new note, ensure you understand you are using your home as collateral and that if you fail to make your payments as required under the loan you could lose the property in foreclosure. Georgia is a non-judicial foreclosure state, which means that the lender does not have to take you to court to foreclose if you fail to make your payments. Long story short, “You don’t pay, you don’t stay” or “No dough, gotta go!” There’s a lot of other little catch phrases, but you get the picture.

With the talk about foreclosure out of the way, you should be past the rough part of the closing. The rest of the time, the attorney will talk with you, maybe joke a little here and there, and keep your hand scribbling your name more times than you can count. Before you know it, you’re done, shaking hands and heading for the door. Don’t be surprised if you hear a sigh of relief from someone in your room, even yourself. Closings are stressful, it’s the attorney’s job to help make it as painless as possible. If you’re lucky, he’ll load you up with cokes and introduce you to the candy bowl. If you really get stressed, look up on the wall, Uga will smile down at you (you’ll see when you get here!)

The closing attorney examines the land records on file in the courthouse, checking the records for any defects on prior deeds to the property, looking for any outstanding mortgages, lawsuits, liens or other judgments that may have to be paid off or corrected prior to closing. This is necessary to ensure that you get your house without someone else’s bills.