The Real Estate Paralegal

A paralegal employed by a law firm, title company, or real estate broker might find him or herself engaged in a wide variety of tasks. A brief review of job descriptions for positions seeking paralegals with real estate experience discloses a few attributes common to the field, to wit:

ABC123, LLC law firm is seeking a real estate paralegal. The individual will be responsible for all pre- and post-closing duties related to commercial real estate transactions including, but not limited to:  legal research; ordering municipal lien certificates, title examinations and certified plot plans; preparation of loan documents, settlement statements and title policies; and UCC filings and searches.

Main Street Law seeks a real estate paralegal, whose duties will include the following: Reviewing and preparing bank loan documents, reviewing and clearing title, ordering title bills and pre-paring closing packages, order, review and file title reports, surveys, settlement statements, lien searches, and exceptions documents, collaborate with title insurance agencies and outside counsel to coordinate title searches and clearances and resolve any issues prior to extending commercial loan title policy, obtain and review UCC reports and assist in resolution of security interest issues, handle the preparation and maintenance of closing checklists, draft and assemble closing documents and prepare closing binders, review closing documents for accuracy regarding pro-rated taxes and closing and settlement costs, maintain files, databases, and records for owned and leased real estate, equipment, bonds, loans, etc., conduct extensive research for real estate property records and general financial and tax information related to local governmental entities and corporations.

While there are quite a few ancillary tasks involved, a review of the above should give you an idea of some of the basic expectations of a paralegal. Therefore, a paralegal in a real estate career should have knowledge of some or all of the following:

1. Sale and ownership of land, including contracts, deeds, surveys, liens, title searches, proration, and the closing process
2. Commercial and residential loans
3. The uniform commercial code (“UCC”) and personal property
4. Basic legal research on property matters
5. Legal ethics related to real property matters
6. Zoning matters
7. Local government issues

The purpose of this textbook is to give you a working knowledge of each of these areas, especially as to how they work related to Indiana property law. As I noted in the previous chapter, while there will be some background and history included in this textbook, the purpose is to introduce you to your potential working environment, and therefore, the focus will tend towards the practical.