Opinion ID: 1359231
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Real Estate Closings

Text: The terms of the circuit court's injunction permit Buyers Service to continue its practice of handling real estate and mortgage loan closings with the restriction that no legal advice be given to the parties during the closing sessions. The State contends instructing clients in the manner in which to execute legal documents is itself practice of law and requires a legal knowledge of statutes and case law. See, e.g. , S.C. Code Ann. §§ 27-7-10 and 30-5-30 (1976). We agree. Courts of other jurisdictions have recognized dangers in allowing lay persons to handle real estate closings. See, e.g., Bowers v. Transamerica Title Ins. Co. , 100 Wash. (2d) 581, 675 P. (2d) 193 (1983); Coffee County Abstract and Title Co. v. State ex rel. Norwood , 445 So. (2d) 852 (Ala. 1984); ConwayBogue Realty Inv. Co. v. Denver Bar Ass'n , 135 Colo. 398, 312 P. (2d) 998 (1957); Oregon State Bar v. Security Escrows, Inc. , 233 Or. 80, 377 P. (2d) 334 (1962); New Jersey State Bar Ass'n v. Northern N.J. Mortgage Assocs. , 32 N.J. 430, 161 A. (2d) 257 (1960). While some of these cases hold that lay persons may conduct closings, they note that giving advice as to the effect of the various instruments required to be executed constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. Thus, in Coffee County Abstract and Title Co., supra , the title company was permitted to conduct real estate closings with the restriction that no legal advice or opinions be given. Chief Justice Torbert, concurring, gave instructions as to how such a closing should be handled: If the parties to the transaction raise a legal question at the closing, the title company should stop the proceeding and instruct them to consult their attorneys. 445 So. (2d) at 857. We agree this approach, in theory, would protect the public from receiving improper legal advice. However, there is in practice no way of assuring that lay persons conducting a closing will adhere to the restrictions. One handling a closing might easily be tempted to offer a few words of explanation, however innocent, rather than risk losing a fee for his or her employer. We are convinced that real estate and mortgage loan closings should be conducted only under the supervision of attorneys, who have the ability to furnish their clients legal advice should the need arise and fall under the regulatory rules of this court. Again, protection of the public is of paramount concern.