Escrow Officers or “escrow closers” in Washington are usually either independent, i.e., licensed and regulated by the Dept Of Fin’l Institutions, or employed by a title insurance company. I have chosen to be an independent Escrow Officer my entire career.
Many well-qualified and experienced closers have worked for title companies their entire career. Typically, this was a secure job, and experienced closers were very well paid by their large corporate employers.
But given the changes in the real estate market over the past few years, title companies have been pulling back to reduce their sizable overhead … closing many or all branch offices in a county, outsourcing or off shoring work formerly done by these well-qualified closers … and unfortunately laying off these excellent people.
Some title companies have laid off escrow managers who have worked for the same company for years, perhaps their entire escrow career. Other title companies, it is rumored, have laid off all experienced closers and are "off shoring" the work out to foreign countries or "out sourcing" to third party companies. They apparently employ only a "document reviewer" to look over the documents returned from foreign offices before those documents are turned over to an outside notary for signing by the customer.
Sadly, the experienced closers who are now unemployed find it hard to stay employed in the escrow industry. This is partly due to the fact that, while they were employed at the title company, they were not required to hold an Escrow Officer license from the State. To now find a new position with an independent Escrow Agent … despite their incredible skills and experience … they must first sit for the State exam and fulfill other requirements mandated by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.
It stands to reason that such unemployed closers probably have developed relationships in the industry which are now "on hold" while the closer remains unemployed. No one likes to switch escrow providers when a strong and effective relationship between realtor and closer has been working well for so long.
If you are a realtor or mortgage originator whose preferred escrow closer is unemployed from a title company … and you would like to continue using that person's services for your closings … please contact me, or have them contact me. I think there are ways to keep these well-qualified people on the job, especially if they have a book of business awaiting their services!
Stan J. Pilon, Licensed Escrow Officer
stan.FirstHeritage@gmail.com
About Me
- STAN J. PILON
- As Bill Cosby once said, "I started out as a child!" Then I became a school teacher out of college (www.dordt.edu) ... but alas, I "burned out" five years later ... and then became interested in real estate closing work via office temp work. Eventually I found my way to Seattle where I've now worked in escrow for over 30 years. I am a licensed Escrow Officer, Limited Practice Officer and Notary Public. I also served a five-year appointment to the Washington State Escrow Commission. Someone who knows me well once described me as "hopelessly anal!" I guess, in this line of work, that's a compliment. For escrow work, it's all in the details.
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