Quick answer
A real estate closing in Georgia must be conducted by a Georgia-licensed attorney. Conveyancing is defined as the practice of law, so a title company, an escrow officer or a real estate licensee cannot run the closing. Agents may fill in blanks on approved forms; they may not draft legal language or advise on what a clause means.
Most states let a title or escrow company handle the closing table. Georgia does not, and candidates who trained on national material walk into the state supplement expecting the wrong answer. It also matters day to day, because the line between an agent doing their job and an agent practising law is thinner than it looks.
Where the rule comes from
O.C.G.A. § 15-19-50 defines the practice of law, and the list includes conveyancing, preparing legal instruments by which a legal right is secured, and rendering opinions on the validity of title. A residential closing does all three.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has held repeatedly that closing a real estate transaction, or preparing the deeds involved, is the practice of law when done by anyone other than a Georgia attorney. It also approved State Bar Formal Advisory Opinion 10-R2, which ended what were called witness-only closings, where a lawyer sat in the room and signed off on a closing they had not actually run. The court's position is that the attorney has to be in control of the process from beginning to end.
Georgia only
In most states, a title company closes. In Georgia, a licensed Georgia attorney closes. If an answer choice has an escrow agent conducting a Georgia closing, it is describing California or Arizona practice.
What the closing attorney is responsible for
The attorney is not a formality standing at the end of the transaction. The role covers:
- Examining title and resolving defects or ambiguities before closing.
- Preparing the deed and the security deed.
- Explaining the documents to the parties as they are signed.
- Handling the disbursement of funds.
- Recording the deed and the security deed, and seeing that the transfer tax is paid so recording can happen.
One point candidates get wrong: the closing attorney normally represents the lender, not the buyer, even though the buyer usually pays the fee. If a question asks whose interests the closing attorney is protecting in a financed purchase, the answer is the lender's, unless the scenario says a separate engagement exists. A buyer who wants their own representation retains their own attorney.
The line an agent must not cross
This is the part the state supplement asks about most, because it is where licensees get into trouble.
An agent may:
- Fill in the blanks on a form the parties have chosen, using the terms the parties dictated.
- Explain what a form is for, in general terms.
- Deliver documents, arrange inspections, order a survey, and pass information between the parties.
- Give advice on price, marketing and negotiating strategy, which is what they are licensed for.
An agent may not:
- Draft clauses, addenda or special stipulations in their own words.
- Advise a party on the legal effect of a contract provision.
- Give an opinion on whether title is good.
- Prepare a deed.
- Conduct the closing.
Exam trap
The distinction the exam wants is between filling in a blank and drafting. Writing "closing on 14 October" in the date field is filling in a blank. Writing a two-sentence special stipulation about what happens if the survey shows an encroachment is drafting, and that is legal work.
The safe answer in almost any Georgia scenario where a party asks an agent what a provision means is that the agent tells them to ask an attorney. That is not evasion, it is the rule. The contracts guide covers what the clauses themselves do, which is worth knowing even though explaining them to a client is not your job.
How this connects to agency duties
An agent who oversteps here has usually also stepped outside the duties BRRETA sets. Advising a customer on the legal effect of a clause is not a ministerial act, and it can convert a relationship the broker thought was non-agency into something else entirely. The BRRETA breakdown covers what a broker owes clients as against customers, and the BRRETA pillar has the statutory duties in full.
Check yourself
1. A buyer in Columbus asks their agent what the "time is of the essence" clause in the contract means for their closing date. What should the agent do?
Show the answer
Answer: B. Advising a party on the legal effect of a contract provision is the practice of law. The agent refers the question to an attorney.
2. Who must conduct a residential real estate closing in Georgia?
Show the answer
Answer: C. Conveyancing is the practice of law in Georgia, so the closing must be conducted by a Georgia-licensed attorney.
3. In a typical financed Georgia purchase, whom does the closing attorney represent?
Show the answer
Answer: B. The closing attorney normally represents the lender, even though the buyer commonly pays the closing fee. A buyer wanting their own representation retains separate counsel.
4. Which action by a Georgia salesperson is permitted?
Show the answer
Answer: C. Filling in blanks with terms the parties have agreed is permitted. Drafting language, preparing deeds and opining on title are all legal work.
FAQ
Can a paralegal handle a Georgia closing if a lawyer supervises?
A paralegal can assist, but the attorney must be in control of the closing from beginning to end and cannot simply appear to witness signatures. That was the point of Formal Advisory Opinion 10-R2.
Does the buyer have to use the lender's attorney?
No. The buyer can hire their own attorney. What they cannot do is have the transaction closed by someone who is not a Georgia attorney.
Is the closing attorney the same as the title company?
No. A title insurance company underwrites the policy. In Georgia the attorney examines title, and often issues the policy as an agent of the underwriter, but the closing itself is legal work performed by the lawyer.
What if the agent uses a form the brokerage's lawyer wrote?
Using an approved form and completing its blanks is fine. Adding original language to it is not, however carefully it is written and however standard the situation seems.