THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260489
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 46 lines
The first meeting of a special General Assembly subcommittee studying real estate closings fell, predictably enough, along lawyer/non-lawyer lines.
Del. William S. Moore Jr., a Portsmouth attorney who practices real estate law, lobbed friendly questions to a representative of the Virginia Bar Association.
Sen. Warren E. Barry, a non-lawyer property manager from Fairfax County, fired sarcastic questions that had the non-lawyer-dominated audience tittering in their seats.
The seven-member subcommittee (non-lawyers hold a 4-3 edge) is charged with recommending whether consumers should be represented by a lawyer when they buy a house.
Lawyers argue that homebuyers need a legal expert to protect their interests when making what for most will be a major purchase.
But a coalition of bankers, real estate agents and title agents says homebuyers should have the choice to forgo lawyer fees in routine transactions.
The dispute is a high-stakes turf battle over real estate closing fees that total millions of dollars a year.
One lobbyist predicted the General Assembly will be in no hurry to settle the dispute when it convenes next January. 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 real estate 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 hen house,'' said John ``Chip'' Dicks, a lobbyist for the Virginia Association of Realtors.
The coalition pulled out all the stops Wednesday, taking out a full-page ad in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and recruiting 100 members to pack a General Assembly committee room.
KEYWORDS: STUDY REAL ESTATE LAWYER HOMEBUYER by CNB