COVID-19 ADVISORY
COVID-19 ADVISORY:
Our office is taking steps regarding the ongoing international COVID-19 pandemic. While we currently plan to stay open during this time, our office is taking steps to limit exposure to our staff and our customers. As such, please take note of the following mitigation steps that will be implemented in our office:
First, we kindly request that no additional parties beyond those required to attend closings attend our closings. If an individual does not need to sign documents or obtain a payoff at closing, we request that you do not attend closing.
Second, we are no longer allowing “walk in” meetings. Our front doors will be locked and individuals will need to call ahead in order to schedule a meeting with any member of our team. When you arrive for a meeting, please knock on the front door and our receptionist will let you in. If she is not there, please call our office at (423) 265-2507.
Third, we are regularly sanitizing our rooms and will attempt to limit the number of individuals in a single closing room at a time. As such, while we normally would permit all parties to attend closing in the same room, we may separate the Buyers and Sellers at closing.
Fourth, we would request the parties take the pens used at closing with them at the conclusion of closing. You may bring your own pen, but it must produce blue ink. We are sanitizing the pens used at closing and hope to limit duplicate use.
Fifth, we are limiting the number of projects we will accept that do not involve title insurance during this time as we may have limited or unpredictable staffing and government availability as the outbreak continues.
With that in mind, please let us know if you are experiencing any symptoms (coughing, sneezing, fever, shortness of breath, fever, etc) so that we can reschedule. For residential transactions, we have the capability to complete the closing using our Remote Online Notary platform Pavaso with Underwriter and Lender approval (as applicable).
Additionally, if you have been out of the country, please do not schedule a closing with us until 14 days from your arrival in the United States.
We also must advise you that our underwriters have implemented indemnity agreements into our closings regarding the lack of predictability of government offices, specifically the Register of Deeds and Clerks of Court, which must be signed at closing.
Finally, we hope you will not be offended that we will engage in social distancing and will refrain from shaking hands with our customers.
Feel free to call our office if you would like to discuss any of our policies regarding our response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thank you for your patience with us during this challenging time and stay safe.