Real estate closing attorneys around the state are battling companies that hire Georgia lawyers to preside over closings just long enough to see that the documents are signed and witnessed.
The fight over these practices has grown from legislative debates into two suits in federal court. The cases, on behalf of a potential class of 3,000 property buyers, take on two practices that have alarmed closing attorneys and the State Bar of Georgia: so-called "witness-only closings," during which a licensed attorney serves only to present closing documents to the borrower for signature; and corresponding claims that such closings constitute the unauthorized practice of law by national closing companies.
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