I have always been told to have a lawyer represent you at the closing of a house sale. I am refinancing, does the same apply? Should I have a lawyer or no? One part of me says, “Yes,”, the other part of me says that I’d look like a paranoid fool if I did. What do most people do?
It’s really the lender’s call more than it is yours . If they don’t require a full blown title review for the new loan a lawyer or title company’s participation isn’t really necessary.
Just for clarification’s sake, they are doing a title search and an assesment of how much the house is worth.
If the lender is doing a title search it is likely to be performed by a local atty or title company they have contracted with, and that is the person or entity who will probably be conducting settlement. Unless there are major items at issue in the re-fi or the financing is more complex than normal and needs a legal review there is probably no compelling reason to hire your own atty. to represent you.
Personally I’d say anytime you are about to sign a contract, especially a significant one such as re-financing your mortgage, it is a good idea to have an attorney representing you present. Chances are the contract is standard stuff and your attorney will collect $300 or some such for mostly sitting there but it is insurance for you. Who knows what might be in the small print that you would miss or not understand the significance of? Something that might come back to bite you in the ass at a later time. With an attorney present you can have the lender state what the terms of the contract are and your attorney can tell you that the document you are about to sign says that and nothing else. Compared to the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars you are obligating yourself to a $300 insurance policy in the form of your own attorney seems like money well spent even if they sleepwalk through the whole thing.