2010 News
The staff of the law firm of Chesser & Barr, P.A., participate in a year-long fund-raising project for the benefit of the Guardian Ad Litem program. Attorney Ashley Rogers (left) recently presented Gerry Bagley (right) of the Guardian Ad Litem program with its annual donation of gift cards to be used during the Holidays for the children in the program. The Guardian Ad Litem program provides a voice in court for Florida's abused and neglected children.
Attorneys Mike Chesser, Clifton D. Gavin and J. David Snell, along with guest Steve Burks, participated in the 2010 Billy Bowlegs Amateur Golf Tournament at Shalimar Pointe, which was sponsored by the Fort Walton Beach Rotary Club, to raise funds for their scholarship, and presenting sponsor, Eglin Federal Credit Union.
Chesser & Barr, P.A. was a team sponsor for the 2010 Boggy Bayou Golf Classic.
Chesser & Barr, P.A. sponsored a hole at the 20th Annual Amici d'Italiani Golf Tournament, put on by the Joseph B Franzalia Lodge #2422, Order Sons of Italy in America on Friday, April 9, 2010.
On February 4, 2010, attorney John David Snell joined Chesser & Barr, P.A. Mr. Snell will be practicing Family Law. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in September 2002 and continues to be a member in good standing.
2009 News
In December 2009, the firm presented its annual donation to the Guardian Ad Litem program of Okaloosa County. Throughout the year, the firm holds a fund-raising project to benefit the Guardian Ad Litem program and to assist the program in providing a voice in court for Florida's abused and neglected children.
On September 14, 2009, attorney Clifton D. Gavin joined Chesser & Barr, P.A. Mr. Gavin will be practicing Banking and Credit Union Law, Bankruptcy, Business Law, Commercial Litigation, Creditor Rights, Real Estate, and Probate. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in April 1999 and continues to be a member in good standing.
On August 19, 2009, Lana Rochelle Mathews, FRP fulfilled the requirements set forth by the Supreme Court of Florida and is now registered as a Florida Registered Paralegal.
On July 16, 2009, Tammy L. DeShay, FRP fulfilled the requirements set forth by the Supreme Court of Florida and is now registered as a Florida Registered Paralegal.
On April 20, 2009, attorney Nickolas G. Petersen and his paralegal L. Rochelle Matthews joined Chesser & Barr, P.A. Mr. Petersen will be practicing Criminal Law, Civil Litigation, Bankruptcy, and Contract Disputes. Mr. Petersen was admitted to the Florida Bar in November 1977 and continues to be a member in good standing.
2008 News
In 2008, Frances Novak, FRP, PP, PLS, CL§ and Johnna A. Phillips, CP, FRP fulfilled the requirements set forth by the Supreme Court of Florida and each is now registered as a Florida Registered Paralegal.
Johnna A. Phillips, CP, FRP, spoke at the July 2008 leadership workshop of the Board of Directors and Officers of the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc., lecturing on the fiduciary duties and responsibilities of corporate officers and directors of a Florida non-profit corporation, the IRS requirements for a 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation, and the Florida Registered Paralegal Program - Rule 20 of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. She is the Immediate Past President of the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc., its current Editorial Board Chair, and was a member of The Florida Bar's Special Committee to Study Paralegal Regulation.
Louis L. Long, Jr., Leslie D. Sheekley, and Colleen Coffield Sachs
Mike Chesser and Harry Barr are pleased to announce that Louis L. Long, Jr., Leslie D. Sheekley, and Colleen Coffield Sachs have joined them as shareholders of the firm as of January 1, 2008. Areas of practice include Civil Litigation and Appeals, Commercial and Creditor Bankruptcy, Real Estate Matters, Estate and Trust Matters, Business Organization and All Business Matters, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, Divorce and Family Matters, Criminal Defense, Mediation, Labor and Employment.
Shareholders Mike Chesser, Harry Barr and Lou Long
Received an "AV" rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Directory.
Mike Chesser and Harry Barr
Both are listed in "Who's Who in American Law."
Mike Chesser
Mike Chesser Writes a column which appears in the "For Sale" insert of the Northwest Florida Daily News, the first Saturday of each month. Click here to view articles
Colleen Sachs was reappointed to the Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee for a three year term.
Chesser & Barr, P.A., began a fund-raising campaign in August 2007, to benefit the Guardian Ad Litem program. The GAL program is a network of professional staff and community advocates, partnering to provide a strong voice in court on behalf of Florida's abused and neglected children. There are 21 local Guardian ad Litem programs in 20 judicial circuits in Florida, including our First Judicial Circuit. On the first and third Friday of each month, Chesser & Barr attorneys and staff who wear jeans to work make a $5.00 contribution. Our firm is pleased to support the vital work being done by the Guardian Ad Litem program.
Does It Matter Who Closes My Real Estate Deal?
By Mike Chesser
Every title company can write title insurance. The company is in business because some insurance underwriter agreed to let that company be its agent. Because the company can legally write title insurance for a title insurance underwriter, the company is in a position to do those closings that title insurance companies may legally do.
A title company is legally permitted to prepare only those documents which are required for the issuance of title insurance. They are legally permitted to do a deed and those documents necessarily implied by the deed when they write owner?s title insurance. They are permitted to prepare the Mortgage, the Note, and those documents necessarily attendant to the preparation of a Mortgage when they write a mortgagee policy. That is all. They are not permitted under any circumstances to prepare a Contract between parties. I have said in these articles many times that the Contract is the most difficult ingredient in a real estate closing. Lawyers and real estate agents are trained to prepare Contracts, not title insurance agents. In addition, any closing which goes beyond the preparation of real estate documents cannot legally be done by a title insurance company. Examples include any personal property conveyance or Security Agreement, Non-Competition Agreements, and the myriad documents and agreements that should be required in any business or commercial closing. With this understanding of what title insurance companies may legally do, does it make a difference which company does your closing?
The answer is without doubt and absolutely, yes. Neither insurance agents, nor underwriters, are all the same. A license to write title insurance is not nearly as difficult to obtain as a license to write other kinds of insurance, or as a license to practice law. Most underwriters have a voracious appetite for premiums. They know that most mistakes made by closing agents don't have anything to do with the chain of title and therefore probably will not create a claim on the title policy.
Therefore, if someone has worked at a title company or law office for a year or so and has become legally authorized to serve as an agent, that person can find an underwriter. The certification requirements are simply not very strict.
Please don't misunderstand. There are some title agents with years of experience and meticulous personalities who are wonderfully suited as closing agents. There are others with poor levels of experience or with casual, undisciplined personalities who are dangerous as closing agents.
Everyone, and every company, will make mistakes. So how should you select a closing agent? Here are some questions that should help.
Does the company have sufficient personnel to monitor and catch errors and to fix them if they occur?
Does the company have sufficient history and assets to defend itself and your closing if something goes wrong?
Is qualified management and advice quickly available?
What is the degree of control on money? (Is the closer the same person who signs checks and verifies his or her own calculations?)
It is unlikely that claims against a closing agent will be just against the closing agent. The parties and their real estate agents are very likely to be defendants in those claims as well. Therefore, the real estate agent who believes he or she should take a closing to the closing agent with the cheapest quote is playing Russian Roulette with his client?s closing. But at least in roulette the chances of disaster are about even. In closings, the cheapest quote is likely to come from a source with the least to lose, the least supervision, and if this article is correct, the highest probability for a problem.
There is no better way to express your love of the profession than by making careful choices that affect your client.
Closing Documents…To Sign Or Not To Sign
By Mike Chesser.
This article is for contractors and people who supply them, and for owners and people who care about them. An example of the problem about which this article is written is the owner who has a contract with a builder to build a house. The house is built and paid for, and thereafter the owner gets a notice of lien from a plumbing company the owner never knew existed. Invariably the owner will fume and fuss and refuse to believe the lien might be a threat; since the owner has paid for the house the owner believes that he owes the plumber nothing. That answer makes good logical sense; it is the wrong answer.
A mechanic's lien is a tool by which a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier can enforce a right to be paid by an owner who can't, or won't, pay him. A mechanic's lien is also a tool by which an unwary owner can pay twice for goods or services. All of the circumstances under which a lien might be good for a contractor, or bad for an owner, are beyond the scope of this article. But there are a few things which should be said to avoid unnecessary heartache for everyone.
First, remember that a lien can be filed for work or materials not paid for over a period of 90 days after work is done. That means a contractor can complete a house, a closing can be completed, the contractor get paid, and up to 90 days later a lien be filed by someone who worked on the house, or supplied materials, but who has not been paid. This very fact makes the knowledge and integrity of the closing agent one of the most important elements of closing.
A builder friend called a week or so ago to say he signed "one of those affidavits" at a closing and that the affidavit was not quite accurate; he wondered what might happen. The affidavit he signed was a mechanic's lien affidavit, a standard document presented to a builder to be signed at closing. It attests that the house is complete and that all subcontractors have been paid. I know there is little understanding of the importance of the document, or why it should be accurate, since I so frequently see them signed casually.That happens most often when a builder intends to pay off his suppliers and subs from proceeds to be received at closing. Unfortunately, there are times when that never happens.
No one who participates in a closing has the prerogative to sign a closing document that is wrong, even if they intend thereafter to do something to correct it. I've said in this space before that all papers signed at closing should be accurate, and if they aren't they should not be signed.
Please, understand that it is a criminal act for a builder to sign an affidavit attesting that all subs and suppliers have been paid if the affidavit is not true. The closing agent's responsibility, when they know the problem, is to fix it. They do that by amending the affidavit to specifically list the name and address of anyone who hasn't been paid, and then to pay them from the final draw.
If the house is not finished or has a punch list, the items to be corrected or finished after closing should be reduced to writing and made a part of the closing documents.
The law contains familiar words and phrases, such as, "Ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration . . . " in a deed, or, " . . . hereby waiving demand, protest, and notice of protest" in a promissory note. People develop the unfortunate attitude, partially because of stiff, unfamiliar language, that closing documents are not supposed to be understandable, and don't really mean what they say; or that somehow they are standard and are to be signed even if technically wrong.
The theme of this article is that real estate closings and documents are serious business. Some words and phrases may be words of art, borrowed from past centuries. Others have very real commercial and even criminal significance. The fact that your closing agent must know the difference makes real estate closings an important profession. Be grateful to the closing attorney or agent who bothers to make sure all documents say what they mean.
