Escrow handles all of the money, preparation of legal conveyance documents, gathering of pertinent payables, and clearing of title in a transaction.
For this reason, it is crucial that the escrow closing agent be familiar with the customs and procedures for the general area where the property is located.
Things like....
Knowing which utilities are and aren't lien-able - Garbage service in Kirkland is lien-able and is not lien-able in Marysville.
When Tacoma Public Utilities services the property there are special closing procedures to go through so that power and water doesn't get turned off for the incoming Buyer.
What are the business jurisdictions and regulatory agencies?
Washington is a wet-funding state when it comes to the loan and affects the signing and how loan funds to escrow.
In's and out's of community property laws.
Estate laws and lien procedures in Washington.
Being familiar with each county's recording process (no 2 are the same).
Entity structure statutes in Washington.
The list goes on...
Did you know...
Many closing agents in Washington are not actually based in Washington?
Many parent companies of closing agents based out-of-state dictate how closings are done for properties here, based on requirements of other states = unnecessary red tape.
Many companies outsource parts of escrow and title process to other countries? This can be anything from order-entry, to examining title, to dealing with sensitive customer information and ordering payoffs, to handling the customer signing (remotely).
Outsourced staff can increase security risks to customers funds and closings.
We believe that for customers to be best served and for closings to happen most efficiently, the closing agent and staff should always be located in the same state (and country) as the property.