Frequently Asked Questions

Once you confirm to us that we are representing you, we will proceed to search the title of the Property and prepare all necessary documents for closing. We will make every effort to close when it is convenient for you. At Campbell Law Group, we strive to provide excellent customer service. We schedule closings between 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and at other times by appointment to fit your needs. We are open when you are ready to close!

Please let us know ASAP. We will gladly email or Fed Ex the closing documents to you. There is an enhanced charge for the extra work and expense involved in a mail-away closing. In addition, please understand that it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to sign these documents in the presence of a notary public and return the documents to us by mail or Fed Ex for closing. You may have signed certain closing documents with your realtor using electronic or digital signatures. However, in most cases we cannot accept anything other than original, wet-ink signed documents for a closing.

1. Funds for Closing. Upon receipt of your closing package, a closing disclosure statement will be prepared by our office. Until that time, we will be unable to provide you with the dollar amount of funds needed to close. When that amount is available, we will let you know immediately. 

In limited cases we can accept a bank check for your closing proceeds provided we can verify the source of funds. Please contact me PRIOR TO CLOSING to make these arrangements and confirm that a certified check will be sufficient for closing. In most cases, please be advised that you will need to send funds for closing in the form of a wire transfer.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the large number of fraudulent checks and other scams, all incoming funds must be sent to us via wire transfer unless you have made previous arrangements with us.

We will gladly provide you with copies of our wiring instructions. You will need to make arrangements with your bank several days prior to closing. In our experience, your bank will require you to be personally present in the bank to sign the wire transfer request. If you are unsure what this means for you in your closing, please contact your local banker for further instructions.

BEWARE OF WIRE FRAUD!

If you receive an email containing our wiring instructions, YOU MUST VERIFY the instructions by calling our office! Campbell Law Group does NOT alter its wiring instructions or its contact information. If at any time you receive a new or different bank name, account name, routing number, account number or branch location, DO NOT wire your funds! The new instructions should be presumed to be fraudulent. You MUST CALL our office to verify wiring instructions prior to sending funds. MAKE CERTAIN you are speaking to someone at Campbell Law Group and DO NOT rely on a telephone number provided on new or altered closing instructions. WHEN IN DOUBT, CALL US! We are not responsible for any loss resulting from your failure to follow these instructions.

2. Two Forms of Identification. Please remember to bring your driver’s license (or other government-issued picture I.D.) and your social security card; most lenders now require two forms of government-issued identification at closing.

Your lender will provide you with a Loan Estimate that discloses all of the fees and costs that you will be expected to pay. To give you some idea of what to expect, typical expenses for closing would include:

(a) Lender fees;

(b) Title insurance;

(c) Recording fees and taxes;

(d) Attorney Fees;

(e) Escrows for your taxes and insurance;

(f) Express mail charges and notary fees.

Title insurance protects real estate owners and lenders against any property loss or damage they might experience because of liens, encumbrances or defects in the title to the property. Each title insurance policy is subject to specific terms, conditions and exclusions.

In preparation for closing, we will perform a title search. The nature of that search may take one of two forms, depending upon whether or not the title has previously been insured. If the title has not been previously insured, a search of the public records for a period of time satisfactory to the title insurance company will be required. If the title has previously been insured, we can obtain affirmative coverage for you and your lender by having the title inspected from the effective date of that coverage to the present.

Therefore, absent your objection, we will determine if title insurance coverage exists on the property and, if so, have the public records examined from the date of that coverage. This procedure will enable us to keep your cost to a minimum while, at the same time, providing full title insurance coverage for you and

satisfying your lender's requirements.

PLEASE LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE IF YOU HAVE A NEW SURVEY

We ALWAYS recommend a survey so that you know what you are purchasing. Please understand that our certification of title does NOT pertain to matters of survey, and your title insurance does NOT protect you against claims which would have been revealed by an accurate survey. We cannot stress the importance of a real estate survey enough. It is common for all parties involved in a real estate transaction to assume that a survey is an unnecessary expense. Depending on the size of the property, the cost of a survey can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. In addition, a survey takes time, and you will need to plan ahead and contact a surveyor early in the process. However, there are many important factors that you should consider before deciding against obtaining a survey, such as:

Boundary Lines: Although it may be obvious, real property tracts are rarely clearly separated from adjacent tracts (i.e. you cannot clearly see where your property begins and ends) You may believe that you have 50 feet of road frontage, that a beautiful tree is just inside your property boundary, or that your driveway is entirely on your property, but there is no way to be certain without a survey.

Setback Lines: Almost every property has setback lines designated by a developer or the local government. These lines prevent you from building structures within a certain distance from your boundary lines. Only a survey can verify where those lines are in relation to the existing structures, and any future buildings you may wish to construct.

Easements: There are two ways to determine whether real property is encumbered by easements: a title search and a survey. Title searches are routinely performed by your attorney before you close, but even your attorney cannot tell you exactly where those easements may be within your boundary lines. A survey on the other hand, will show you where those easements are and help you determine whether the property is suitable for your intended uses.

Encroachments: The more common scenarios that we see involve fences, outbuildings and driveways. Even if a licensed contractor installed the fence or driveway, it is all too common that fences and driveways end up a few feet over from their intended placement and wind up encroaching on the neighbor's property. While the current owners may not mind this, a future owner may come along and force you to move it at your sole expense. You rarely have a claim against your seller if you purchased the property with this type of problem, because you had the opportunity to get a survey.

Title Insurance: Title insurance companies will tell you that if you did not get a survey, you effectively eliminated 90% of your title insurance protection. Most people do not realize that title insurance will not protect you against any issue that would have been discovered with a survey.

This even includes property described on a recorded plat! Without a current survey, title insurance companies do not provide insurance based on the recorded plat and therefore do not insure your property dimensions.

Real property law still relies on the old legal maxim "caveat emptor," which means "buyer beware." If you purchase real property that has encroachment problems, buildings within setbacks, easements, etc., you are responsible for correcting them and you likely have no claim against your seller. You take the property "as-is." A survey of the Property is the most reliable indicator of potentially serious problems like boundary overlaps, shared driveways, encroachments, certain zoning violations, unrecorded easements, discrepancies in the acreage or property boundaries and other issues affecting the property.

It is your responsibility to order the survey of your property if you want. You are not required to have a survey performed, but recognize that you are assuming certain risks if you purchase without a survey. Many people rely on the county mapping online (GIS) as a reference for their closing- GIS INFORMATION FROM THE TAX MAPPING OFFICE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REVEALED BY AN ACCURATE LAND SURVEY.

As closing attorneys, we make no representation as to the structural integrity of any improvements on the Property (if any), nor do we provide any opinion as to the environmental condition of the Property. In addition, the survey should reveal whether or not the Property lies within a flood plain. As we are not surveyors nor are we engineers, we make no representations as to whether or not the property lies within a flood plain. Our ability to provide you with flood plain information is limited by what is disclosed to us by the surveyor's report and by what, if anything, we may find on the public record.

Do you know about Restrictive Covenants? Many lots in residential subdivisions are subject to a Plan of Development with Restrictive Covenants that regulate how the property can be used. In that we have not yet searched the title to your property, we do not have copies of any such restrictions, but you will be provided a copy at closing. In the meantime, if you are buying property in a subdivision, you should ask your realtor or the Seller to provide you a copy of any restrictive covenants applicable to the property.

If you are married, you and your spouse both MUST attend closing. In the event either of you are unable to attend the closing, please let us know immediately. It is possible to close by Power of Attorney if necessary, but your lender must approve that procedure in advance of closing, and necessary document preparation must be completed prior to the date of closing. Closings can be conducted by email and Federal Express for convenience of the client, so please let us know as early as possible whether you would prefer to close remotely. The seller and the real estate agent(s) may also be present.

Our base fee for the above services will be approximately $750.00. In addition to the foregoing base fee, we reserve the right to charge more if we encounter substantial extra work due to a complex title search, additional lender requirements and other such factors. We will, of course, attempt to disclose any cost overruns with you prior to you undertaking the extra work. You will also be responsible for other out of pocket expenses, including notary fees, electronic recording fees, courier fees and similar costs.

The North Carolina State Bar has determined that the performance of most acts and

services required for a closing constitutes the practice of law and must be performed only by an attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina. State law prohibits unlicensed individuals or firms from rendering legal services or advice. Although non-attorney settlement agents may perform limited services in connection with a closing, they may not perform all the acts and services required to complete a closing. A closing involves significant legal issues that should be handled by an attorney. Accordingly, it is the position of the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® that all buyers should hire an attorney licensed in North Carolina to perform a closing.

WARNING: THE CLOSING ATTORNEY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONDITION OF THE PROPERTY. There are certain items that Buyer or Buyer's agents or representatives should consider prior to closing because the closing attorney has no responsibility for these items.

Property Investigation: All desired tests, surveys, appraisals, investigations, examinations and inspections of the Property as Buyer deems appropriate, including but NOT limited to the following:

(i) Soil And Environmental: Reports to determine whether the soil is suitable for Buyer's intended use and whether there is any environmental contamination, law, rule or regulation that may prohibit, restrict or limit Buyer's intended use.

(ii) Septic/Sewer System: Any applicable investigation(s) to determine: (1) the condition of an existing sewage system, (2) the costs and expenses to install a sewage system approved by an existing Improvement Permit, (3) the availability and expense to connect to a public or community sewer system, and/or (4) whether an Improvement Permit or written evaluation may be obtained from the County Health Department for a suitable ground absorption sewage system.

(iii) Water: Any applicable investigation(s) to determine: (1) the condition of an existing private drinking water well, (2) the costs and expenses to install a private drinking water well approved by an existing Construction Permit, (3) the availability, costs and expenses to connect to a public or community water system, or a shared private well, and/or (4) whether a Construction Permit may be obtained from the County Health Department for a private drinking water well.

(iv) Review of Documents: Review of the Declaration of Restrictive Covenants, Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, Rules and Regulations, and other governing documents of any applicable owners' association and/or subdivision.

(v) Appraisals: An appraisal of the Property

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(vi) Survey: A survey to determine whether the property is suitable for Buyer's intended use and the location of easements, setbacks, property boundaries points of access, and other issues which may or may not constitute title defects.

(vii) Zoning and Governmental Regulation: Investigation of current or proposed zoning or other governmental regulation that may affect Buyer's intended use of the Property, adjacent land uses, planned or proposed road construction, and school attendance zones.

(viii) Flood Hazard: Investigation of potential flood hazards on the Property, and/or any requirement to purchase flood insurance in order to obtain the Loan.

(ix) Utilities and Access: Availability, quality, and obligations for maintenance of utilities including electric, gas, communication services, storm water management, and means of access to the Property and amenities.

WARNING: BUYER IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO CONDUCT DUE DILIGENCE DURING THE DUE DILIGENCE PERIOD. If Buyer is not satisfied with the results or progress of Buyer's Due Diligence, Buyer should terminate this Contract, prior to the expiration of the Due Diligence Period, unless Buyer can obtain a written extension from Seller. SELLER IS NOT OBLIGATED TO GRANT AN EXTENSION. Although Buyer may continue to investigate the Property following the expiration of the Due Diligence Period, Buyer's failure to deliver a Termination Notice to Seller prior to the expiration of the Due Diligence Period will constitute a waiver by Buyer of any right to terminate this Contract based on any matter relating to Buyer's Due Diligence.

Should you have any questions regarding your closing at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Again, please know we are honored to work.