The Evans Law Firm

What Documents does the Seller's Attorney Need?

What papers does my lawyer need to represent me? We go over it on the phone but here is a checklist you can copy, print out and refer to.

• your abstract of title
• a recent real estate tax bill
• copy of your current deed
• a copy of any survey or map of the property that you can find
• a recent bill from your mortgage company(s)
• a signed authorization allowing my office to get information from your bank [I’ll provide it]
• If you have sold off any property from the original piece, I would like those deeds
• If you have bought any adjoining property after you bought the first piece, that is included in the sale, I must have a separate abstract for that parcel of land. Tell me and we can work out the details as long as I know about it up front. It is crucial especially if the parcels are in more than one tax number. By that I mean you get separate tax bill for the properties.
• a copy of the contract if already signed

What if I don’t have one or more of these things? Well, if you don’t have a mortgage, that’s great. If you don’t have your deed, we can work through without it. If you are missing an abstract, that’s a different kettle of fish altogether. You and I have to search around to get it. I will ask you for your closing statement or HUD-1 from the latest closing you had on the property. Sometimes the bank holds the abstracts, sometimes the bank’s title insurance company does. We can help you with this if you bring in any and all closing statements you have about buying or mortgaging the property. If it has disappeared entirely we can order a new one, but that can cost an extra three to four hundred dollars.