Q. I have been contacted by my lawyer stating that the final closing on my condo is scheduled next month. What are my next steps?
A. You have been occupying your unit most likely for a number of months on an interim basis. This is contractually stipulated occupancy so that you are virtually carrying the cost of the unit once it is livable. The first thing you should do is make sure your lawyer knows about this date. There is then a sequence of events that must occur:
• Contact your financial institution and let them know when the final closing date is and be aggressive with the financial planner/advisor that you want to come in at their earliest possible convenience and finalize all paperwork. Once you have completed the paperwork with your local representative, they then have to send the documentation off to the central mortgage unit, underwriting and processing, which can take several business days.
• Once you are assured your banker has sent off the documents to his funding department, follow up with him to make sure there are no missing documents: Such as proof of income.
• Follow up with your lawyer to make sure they have received mortgage instructions at least four or five business days before the scheduled closing date. Banks often impose three to five business day deadlines for the law firm to request the funds for the mortgage.
• Be prepared to be flexible around the time of closing so you can leave work to sign documents and do banking. Once your lawyer has mortgage instructions he or she can tell you everything you need to know in order to complete the transaction.
Rest assured that your lawyer is aware of a ticking clock from the time they are made aware of the final closing date. The more advance planning, the less stressful everything will be.
– Jeffrey D. Cowan is the principal of Cowan & Taylor, Barristers & Solicitors, jeff@cowanandtaylor.com. The information contained in this article should not be relied upon as legal advice.
