Q: In residential real estate closings in Kansas, it is not allowed to provide the seller a physical check at closing...
My mom is acting as her own agent at her house closing. On the authorization to issue funds form, she was given three options: receive a check at closing, send a check later by UPS/USPS, or get the funds wired to her bank account. She chose to receive a check at closing, only to then be told that they can't do that in Kansas (provide a check at closing). Is this correct?! She doesn't want to provide them with her bank account info for a wire and doesn't want to wait for a check to come via snail mail. Thank you!
A: The normal course of a real estate transaction involving an escrow agent is for the deed and buyer’s funds to enter escrow (with all executed documents) and for the deed to be filed and for the escrow agent (title company, typically) to confirm that no documents have been filed since preliminary title search. If a document is filed before the deed that calls into question whether buyer is receiving good title, seller would have failed in his or her responsibility to provide good title. Good title must be confirmed before the escrowed funds are distributed. That is the sequence that is critical. Whether funds may be picked up or sent by express delivery may relate more to the title company’s standard protocol. A seller should feel free to ask whether there is a regulation that would require one method or the other and for a citation to the specific protocol.
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