A title company, real estate attorney, closing company, etc. = are all terms frequently used interchangeably to describe “settlement agents”. Title companies are either owned by, or employ real estate attorneys – Jett Title does both. All settlement agents perform the exact same legal function – they finalize, “close”, real estate transactions.
A settlement agent is the third party who makes everyone at the closing table happy (sellers are the 1st party, buyers are the 2nd party; everyone else in the transaction are 3rd parties):
The buyers want a deed & keys to a house; the sellers want a check; and all the other third parties who helped make the transaction possible (real estate professionals, appraiser, lender, title, etc.) need to be paid for their services; the lender needs their documents signed in the right spots, by the right people in the right ways; money needs to change hands; the sellers’ liens/mortgages need to get paid off; the buyers’ new deed and mortgage need to be recorded at the county clerks’ office after the closing to make them official record…and many of other tasks need to be completed to legally finalize the real estate transaction.