Escrow & Disbursement

Real estate wire fraud works the same way nearly every time. Someone monitors an email thread, waits for the closing date to get close, and sends what looks like updated wiring instructions. The money is gone within hours and is almost never recovered. The defence is not technology; it is refusing to act on emailed instructions at all.

Our wire rules, in plain terms

We will never send you new or changed wiring instructions by email. If you receive a message that appears to change where funds should go — even if it looks like it came from us, even if it is in the same thread — stop and call the office at (770) 506-7765 using the number on this website.

On our side, every outgoing wire gets a verbal callback to a number we obtain independently, never a number supplied in the email requesting the change.

• Verbal callback verification on every outgoing wire
• Callback number sourced independently, never from the requesting email
• Written wiring instructions issued once and never amended by email
• Payoff figures confirmed directly with the lender, not from a forwarded PDF
• Seller proceeds confirmed with the seller before funds move

Attorney trust accounting

Earnest money and closing funds are held in an attorney trust account, reconciled and kept separate from firm operating funds. That is a professional obligation with real consequences behind it, and it is one of the underrated advantages of closing with a law firm.

Disbursement

Once a file funds we disburse the same day wherever possible: payoffs to the prior lenders, commissions to the brokerages, taxes and recording to the county, and proceeds to the seller. Recording follows immediately — a payoff that is sent but never cancelled of record becomes someone's title defect later, which is precisely the problem our curative work spends its time undoing.

Common questions

What should I do if I get an email changing the wire instructions?

Do not act on it, and do not reply to it. Call our office at (770) 506-7765 using the number on this website — not a number in the email. Fraudulent instructions are frequently sent from an address that differs from the real one by a single character.

Can I bring a cashier's check instead of wiring?

For most closing amounts, yes, and for many buyers it is the safer choice. Confirm the exact amount with us the day before — and again, confirm it by phone.

Who holds the earnest money?

Where the contract designates this firm as holder, earnest money sits in our attorney trust account until closing or until the contract directs otherwise. Often the listing brokerage holds it instead; the contract controls.