Real Estate Bar Ass'n v. National Loan Closers, Inc.

30 Mass. L. Rptr. 497
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedNovember 30, 2012
DocketNo. SUCV201201609E
StatusPublished

This text of 30 Mass. L. Rptr. 497 (Real Estate Bar Ass'n v. National Loan Closers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Real Estate Bar Ass'n v. National Loan Closers, Inc., 30 Mass. L. Rptr. 497 (Mass. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MacLeod-Mancuso, Bonnie H., J.

In accordance with the Motion for Entry of Judgment jointly filed by Plaintiff The Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc. and Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc., the parties have stipulated and agreed to the entry of this Judgment, including the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law that support it, and have agreed not to challenge the legal adequacy of the Findings and Conclusions in any potential future proceeding to enforce this Judgment. Furthermore, Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. has agreed to the entry of this Judgment without admitting or conceding that is engaged in the unauthorized [498]*498practice of law as asserted by the Plaintiff. The entry of this Judgment shall not be construed as an admission or violation of the law or of liability by Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. for any other purpose or proceeding. This Judgment shall be construed as solely remedial in nature, and shall not be construed as the payment of any fine, penalty, punitive assessment, or forfeiture.

Based upon the parties’ joint Motion and the parties’ consent, the Court hereby enters the following.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff The Real estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc., formerly known as the Massachusetts Conveyancers Association, Inc., is a corporation with a principal place of business at 50 Congress Street, Suite 600, Boston, Massachusetts. The Plaintiff is a bar association with a membership of approximately 2,300 Massachusetts real estate attorneys.

2. Plaintiff The Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc. has filed this action to restrain the unauthorized practice of law. See G.L.c. 221, §46A (“[n]o individual, other than a member, in good standing, of the bar of this commonwealth shall practice law”).

3. Jurisdiction over actions to restrain the unauthorized practice of law is specifically conferred on this Court by General Laws c. 221, §46B which provides that the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction in equity, upon petition of any bar association within the Commonwealth, to restrain violations of General Laws c. 221, §46A.

4. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Kentucky with a principal place of business at 9891 Montgomery Road, Suite 236, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

5. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. is not authorized to practice law in Massachusetts.

6. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. advertises itself as “the nation’s leader in providing efficient, qualified, professional notaries and attorneys for your mobile and witness closings” and claims to “provide quality driven, prescreened, and experienced notary closers for all your signing needs.”

7. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. operates notary management systems known as “My Closing Tracker” and “Closing Board” (hereinafter, the “Software Management System”).

8. The Software Management System is a web-based program that “combines a real time closing scheduler along with one of the nation’s fastest growing notary database.” It can be used to identify, contact, hire, schedule, and manage, notaries public across the country to perform “witness only” closings.

9. A “witness only” closing is one where the individual presiding over the settlement of a residential real estate transaction acts as a witness and not as someone practicing law.

10. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. maintains a database of “signing agents” for use in connection with its Software Management System. The database includes contact information (name, home address, telephone numbers, e-mail, tax identification numbers, and notary experience) of notaries public who have indicated a willingness to perform “witness only” closings.

11. To have one’s profile appear generally in Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc.’s database of “signing agents,” a notary public completes an on-line application and agrees to Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc.’s “Notary Agreement.”

12. Under the terms of the “Notary Agreement,” each signing agent click-agrees to the following terms for each individual “signing” that is assigned to him or her:

a. That the signing agent is, and shall remain duly licensed or commissioned as a notary public in the jurisdiction in which he or she is conducting the “witness only” closing.
b. That the signing agent “shall not interpret or give advice or counsel to any parly before, during or after any signing concerning (i) the loan transaction, (ii) execution by any party of any document, or (iii) any document contained in the loan package.”
c. That the signing agent is being hired “for the purpose of monitoring completion and execution of the loan documents by all parties to the [real estate] transaction and witnessing and/or notarizing signatures on the loan documents as required.”

13. Although there is no charge to the notary public to become a signing agent, he or she can become a “Premier Member” by paying $29.99. As a “Premier Member,” the profile for the notary public appears before non-paying signing agents.

14. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. advertises that all of its signing agents “have gone through our application process in which we evaluate their background and work ethic, check references from previous customers, and test their knowledge of fundamentals.” Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. also states that “qualified” notaries public “must attend our NLC training process before performing closings” and that it “ensures that all Signing Agents are up to date on pertinent issues and state specific documents.”

15. Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. licenses access to its Software Management System to title companies, lenders, attorneys, and others (hereinafter “Vendors”). Vendors are able to use the Software Management System, and do use it, to locate and hire notaries public who are willing to preside over “witness only” closings in Massachusetts.

[499]*49916. In order to use the Software Management System and to access Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc.’s database of notaries public, each Vendor is required to click-agree to Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc.’s Vendor Service Contract.

17. Pursuant to the terms of the Vendor Service Contract, the Vendor retains Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. and its signing agent “for the purpose of monitoring completion and execution of loan documents” and “witnessing and/or notarizing signatures on the loan documents” at the settlement of a real estate transaction.

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact', the Court makes the following

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant National Loan Closers, Inc. pursuant to GL.c. 223A, §3.

2. Plaintiff The Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts, Inc., has the authority to bring this action pursuant to G.L.c. 221, §46B.

3. Massachusetts law prohibits anyone other than a licensed Massachusetts attorney from providing legal services for another party or from holding out to the public as able to provide legal services or the services of an attorney. G.L.c. 221, §46A.

4.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 Mass. L. Rptr. 497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/real-estate-bar-assn-v-national-loan-closers-inc-masssuperct-2012.