What happens after the closing table?

The first task is recording. The title closer submits the deed, the mortgage and the tax returns, and once the City Register or the county clerk indexes them the recorded copies come back with a recording reference and date. Those copies are the proof that the transfer is on the record.

The final policy follows the recording. It is issued as of the date of the insured deed or mortgage, with the Schedule B-I requirements removed and the surviving exceptions listed on Schedule B-II. Read the final policy against the commitment, because that comparison is the only way to confirm the requirements were cleared.

Satisfactions of the paid-off liens are the item most often left dangling. Servicers can take weeks or months to send a satisfaction for recording, and nobody notices until the next sale. Checking ACRIS a few months out costs an afternoon and prevents a curative problem years later.

Lenders have their own tail: a hazard insurance binder to verify, an occupancy certification, an escrow account setup, and the servicing transfer notice telling you where payments go. Missing a servicing transfer notice is a common cause of a payment posted to the wrong servicer.

Keep a permanent file. The recorded deed, the owner's title policy, the settlement statement, the survey, the transfer tax returns and the note and mortgage all belong together. The next buyer's title company will ask for the policy, and producing it can qualify that deal for a reissue rate.