Submit your Seller Information
Our office has been asked to act as settlement agent in the closing of the real estate you are selling. There are some matters that we will require your assistance with in order to expedite the transaction and prevent delays or extra costs to you. They are listed below.
1. IDENTIFICATION/ CLOSING: Please bring a valid drivers license or passport for each person who will be signing documents. The closing cannot take place if you do not have this identification with you. Since the COVID emergency forced the temporary closure of most public Registry of Deeds most closings are now done remotely. If you do not wish to attend the closing, please contact our office to arrange to sign a limited power of attorney and deed prior to the closing. We as your attorney can then review with you the closing documents prior to the closing date in person or by secure email and sign on your behalf the administrative documents for overnight delivery to the settlement agent’s office for recording.
2. MORTGAGES: If your property is presently mortgaged, the mortgage(s) will be paid off at the time of closing using proceeds from the sale, if any. Please send a copy of your most recent mortgage statement together with a contact telephone number for customer service so that we may obtain a payoff. Most lenders now require your verbal authorization to release payoff information. Please contact your mortgage lenders and authorize the lender to release payoff information to Hill & Plakias P.C. After your mortgages have been paid in full, the banks will send us discharges which we will record at the Registry of Deeds. In the event there is a non-institutional mortgage (i.e. one given to a private individual, trust or corporation as opposed to a bank or mortgage company), we will require that the payoff amount be furnished to us before the closing and a discharge be delivered in escrow at or before the closing. If you are uncertain about whether an outstanding loan is held by a private lender, please contact our office or have your attorney do so. The obligation to furnish a discharge at closing applies also to outstanding attachments or other liens, if any.
3. DEED: The preparation of a new deed to convey the premises to the buyer is your responsibility. You should have your attorney send us a copy of the proposed deed as soon as possible and before the closing date. While we cannot represent the Lender and you we are sometimes asked to prepare a deed as part of our mortgage services. Our charge for deed preparation is $200.00.
4. DISCHARGE TRACKING: Pursuant to the new mortgage discharge law effective October 1, 2006, this office will be charging a fee of $75.00 for each mortgage being paid off for purposes of tracking the mortgage discharge.
5. SMOKE AND CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR CERTIFICATE: We call to your attention the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 148, Section 26E. You should contact your local fire department, arrange for an inspection, obtain a certificate of compliance and bring the original with you at the time set for closing and fax a copy to us prior to closing.
6. ELECTRICITY, WATER, SEWER, FUEL: You or your real estate broker must contact the municipal water and sewer department to arrange for a final reading no less than 1 day prior to the closing date. Please bring a final PAID bill to the closing. Failure to bring a final paid bill may result in a holdback of proceeds sufficient to pay any outstanding municipal charges. If your electricity is provided by a municipal light plant, you must bring with you a final electric reading. Oil readings are typically handled outside of closing.
7. EXPENSES: You will also be required to pay for Massachusetts Excise stamps at the rate of $4.56 per thousand dollars. ($5.28 for Barnstable County). Recording fees to discharge mortgages and other liens are $105.00 per document plus any local fees and efiling fees.
8. POWER OF ATTORNEY: If there is a power of attorney involved, please send our office a copy of the power of attorney document prior to the closing. The use of the power of attorney will have to be approved by our client and the form and content thereof must be reviewed by our office. In any event, the deed transferring title from you to the Buyer must be signed by you in the original and notarized. A deed signed under a power of attorney is generally not acceptable except in the case of the disability or incapacity of the principal.
9. CONDOMINIUM UNITS: If the transaction involves a condominium unit, you are required to provide a certificate pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 183A, Section 6(d). This certificate is obtained from the organization of unit owners and states the unpaid common expenses which have been assessed to the unit owner. You will also be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance naming, as insureds, the buyer and the Buyer’s new Lender s well as its successors and assigns as their interest may appear.
10. SALE PROCEEDS: If the closing takes place in our office, we will make every attempt to record papers and disburse funds on the same day. However, no matter where this transaction closes your funds will not be released to you until the deed and mortgage have been recorded at the appropriate Registry of Deeds. Your proceeds will be issued to you by a check drawn on our Conveyancing Trust Account as is the standard procedure in Massachusetts.
11. TRUST OWNERSHIP: If this property is owned by a trust, our office also requires a trustee’s certificate. This certificate should state that the trust has not been terminated, amended or revoked; that the trustee (s) are the same and they have not resigned; and that so far as may be required by the beneficiaries, they have assented to the transaction and that they are of legal age and competent. In addition, the statement should be acknowledged before a notary public and be in the form suitable for recording. We can prepare such a certificate at a charge of $150.00 if you request us to do so.
12. FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN REAL PROPERTY TAX ACT OF 1980 AS AMENDED: This Federal Law places special requirements for tax reporting and withholding on the parties to a real estate transaction under certain circumstances as set forth in the law. You should seek the advice of your attorney or accountant concerning the effect of this Act on this transaction. If you are a foreign person as defined by U. S. tax laws, the settlement agent is required to withhold a percentage of the sale proceeds. You will be required to execute a certification under penalty of perjury at the closing regarding your tax filing status. If you do not plan on attending the closing, please be sure that your attorney or agent delivers the fully completed and executed copy of the affidavit along with the deed. The closing attorney for the firm can not and will not provide information, advice or opinions regarding the Act’s applicability to you or to this transaction.
13. FEDERAL TAX LAWS. Since January 1, 1986 Federal Law requires the closing attorney to report the proceeds of the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service. You will be asked to provide your Social Security or Federal Identification Number at the closing for tax reporting purposes.
14. TITLE EXAMINATION. Please note that if, as the result of searching the title or obtaining the plot plan and municipal lien certificate, we discover that there are any deficiencies or defects, they are your responsibility to correct or to have your attorney do so on your behalf or determine your rights, duties and obligations under your purchase and sale agreement.
15. CORPORATIONS and LLCs: If you hold title to the property in a corporate name or in an LLC or LLP the following documents are required
If the sale is by a limited liability company, a Certificate of Good Standing issued within 60 days from the Secretary of State is required. The form may be ordered on line at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/coridx.htm
If the sale is by a corporation and is a sale of all or substantially all of the corporations’ assets, a waiver of the corporate excise tax lien imposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue under M.G.L. Chapter 62C, Section 51 is required or statement on the deed that the sale does not constitute a sale of substantially all of the Corporation’s assets.
All deeds from a corporation must be signed by the President and Treasurer of the Corporation,, or accompanied by a corporate vote authorizing the officer signing the deed.