Yes, if you work with Campbell Mortgage, you can use your own attorney to represent you in your mortgage closing. However, that may not be the case with other lenders. More and more institutions have a closed list of approved attorneys that they require to be used in a real estate transaction. What this means for you as a borrower or attorney:
If you are a borrower: either you may end up having higher costs because you are responsible to pay for both the lender's attorney and your own attorney's fees; or you may decide to just use the lender's recommended attorney to keep your closing costs lower or to simplify the process. In doing so, you may not be as comfortable as if you were to use your own attorney who knows about your other affairs and has always looked out for your best interests.
If you are an attorney: not only are you not gaining business if you are not on the approved lender's lists, but how much business are you losing from your own clients that are electing to proceed with the lender's recommended attorney because they don't want to pay for 2 attorneys or are being told it's "just a real estate closing" and there's no need for 2 attorneys? When recommending financial institutions to your clients, you can make sure up-front that the lender will allow you to represent both sides. However, many clients proceed with a mortgage transaction before consulting their attorney. That does not give you the opportunity to educate them about lender's closed attorney's lists, so be sure to notify your clients of the risks of you not representing them in your next mailing or newsletter.
If you do find a lender that has a closed attorney list, and they tell you that you can still use your own attorney, be sure to find out what the extra costs will be, as well as what they allow the lender's attorney to handle vs. the borrower's attorney (ie. title work).
One more bit of advice: If you call me (860.919.0978) to apply for a mortgage, you can ignore everything I just said because we do not have a closed attorney's list.
