ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250036
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
At its first meeting Wednesday, a special General Assembly subcommittee studying real estate closings was divided, predictably enough, lawyer vs. non-lawyer.
Del. William Moore, D-Portsmouth, a lawyer who practices real estate law, lobbed friendly questions to a representative of the Virginia Bar Association.
Sen. Warren Barry, R-Fairfax, a non-lawyer property manager from Fairfax County, fired sarcastic questions that had the non-lawyer-dominated audience tittering.
The seven-member subcommittee (where non-lawyers hold a 4-3 edge) is charged with recommending whether the legislature should regulate closings of real estate transactions. The issue is whether consumers are harmed if they are not represented by lawyers.
Lawyers argue that home buyers need legal experts to protect their interests when making what for many is the biggest purchase of their lives.
A coalition of bankers, real estate agents and title agents says home buyers should be allowed to forgo lawyer fees in routine transactions. In the Roanoke area, real estate lawyers charge about $400 for legal work related to a mortgage closing, including a title search. Title agents charge $275 to $300.
The dispute is a high-stakes turf battle over real estate closing fees that in Virginia total millions of dollars a year.
One lobbyist predicted the General Assembly will be in no hurry to settle it. After all, he noted, both sides represent some of the state's most generous campaign contributors.
"'Let's study it for a while, so everyone can ante up,'" he said.
For centuries, lawyers have held a monopoly on real estate closings. In recent years, competitors - real estate firms, title companies - have grabbed an increasing share of the market.
The so-called "lay settlement agents" could be put out of business if the Virginia Supreme Court upholds a draft Bar Association opinion that would make it illegal for non-lawyers to conduct most closings.
Fearing an unfavorable ruling from the lawyer-dominated Bar Association, the real estate agents, bankers and title agents have turned to the General Assembly.
"The Bar is like the fox guarding the henhouse," said John Dicks, a lobbyist for the Virginia Association of Realtors. The coalition recruited 100 members to pack a General Assembly committee room.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB