A bank attorney represents your lender (bank which loans you money for the mortgage) and is an essential party to your real estate transaction when a mortgage is involved.
The role of the bank attorney is to represent solely the interests of a lender, typically a bank or credit union, and act as the middleman between real estate attorneys, the title company, and the lender. Bank attorneys are not present in “cash” real estate transactions where no lender is involved. The main job of the bank attorney is to ensure that all documents required by the bank are signed by the borrower (purchaser of the real property) and that the bank’s interests are protected.
The bank attorney receives the final title bill from the title company and uses those numbers to fill out a closing disclosure (“CD”) form. The CD is essentially a finalized checklist of expenses and credits for a real estate closing from mortgage payoff amounts to tax adjustments which discloses where all the money comes from/goes. The most important role of the bank attorney is to manage funding of the disbursement checks upon the lender’s approval. The lender must first review the documents, make sure all are signed properly, and only then authorize the bank attorney to allow checks to exchange between the seller and purchaser.