Lender Closing Rules

[remogul]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Ohio

Thanks in advance for any help!

Simple question: If a lender is going through a title company with a refinance, is the lender allowed to close the deal him/herself? For instance, what legal ramifications are there to allowing the lender to spend 15 minutes alone with his client and then calling in the closing agent to go over everything else? Shouldn't the closing agent be the neutral third party explaining everything?

[flyingron]

It's not required that the person handling the closing be independent from the lender. Usually you have your choice (you're paying for it most likely anyhow). In all the refi's I've done I've done two at independent escrow agents and once with the lender handling it. In every case where I have bought or sold property, I have used my own attorney for the closing (oddly, I never got any grief from the other parties (seller, buyer, bank) involved.

[remogul]

Thanks Ron,
Maybe I should have been more specific in my question, but I am not the buyer or seller. I actually work at a title company. This is the specific scenario I am questioning about: I work at a title company and we work with a certain broker that will come into our office for a closing that should be administered by us, the title company. The broker will tell us to wait 15 minutes before we come into the closing room so he can "explain" things to his customer first and then the closer goes in to notarize and explain the rest. I know for a fact that the broker is covering up and lying about fees and what they are charging the customer. Is this illegal? Is the broker allowed to do this? My understanding is that we, as the title company, are the neutral third party and that we are supposed to do the entire closing, which includes explaining all of the paper work. Thanks.

[flyingron]

It is not the closing agent's responsibility to provide legal counsel. If you are aware of inaccuracies, you are obliged to tell all parties. Otherwise it's up to them. Your job is to hold and distribute the moneys, deeds, etc.. in escrow and properly document everything.

[remogul]

Thanks Ron:

I think I'm in a situation of simply not agreeing with how my company and how the broker handle their business. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post, I very much appreciate it!