The processor's own work list — searches, payoffs, clearance, settlement figures, and the documents you don't close or fund without. 38 steps, grouped by when they happen.
Written for New Jersey specifically — the searches, notices and taxes on this list are the ones New Jersey files actually need.
Review contract and confirm order details
Check vesting in the commitment matches the seller, and that borrower names are spelled as they appear on the contract. Both are cheap to fix now and expensive to fix at the table.
1 business day after the file being opened
Capture contacts for every party
Buyer, seller, both attorneys, both agents, and the lender if there is one. Missing one of these is the most common reason a file stalls in week three.
1 business day after the file being opened
Schedule closing on the calendar
2 business days after the file being opened
Check whether the seller has a survey
If not, find out whether the buyer needs one — on a financed file the lender usually decides this for you.
2 business days after the file being opened
Order survey
No set deadline
Survey received
No set deadline
Survey read into title, signed, sealed and certified
No set deadline
Send opening email to seller's attorney
Confirm the closing date and ask for: whether the property is tenanted, rent roll and security deposit, who holds the deposit, who prepares seller docs, their legal fee, any other fees for the settlement statement, and whether realtors are involved with a commission statement.
3 business days after the file being opened
Seller docs received and approved
No set deadline
Request mortgage payoffs
If a payoff is vague, send a mortgage affidavit. For a HELOC, get the freeze letter, a payoff dated after the freeze, and a signed account-close letter to send with it.
5 business days after the file being opened
Hard-money lender discharge and proof of authority to sign
Only where a hard-money lender is on title. The original discharge has to be in hand before closing, not promised.
No set deadline
Send opening email to buyer's attorney
Confirm whether there is a lender and get their contact and checklist, the attorney fee, and — if the buyer is an LLC taking a mortgage — the certificate of formation and operating agreement.
Stewart’s New York guidance treats tax, water & sewer, bankruptcy and patriot searches as always required, and NJ practice follows. Order updated corporate status / good standing if the existing one is more than a month old.
5 business days after the file being opened
Commitment issued — flag unusual exceptions to both sides
Follow up to reconfirm the closing date at the same time. Anything unusual on Schedule B is cheaper to raise the day the commitment goes out than the week of closing.
Only on an entity seller. All members must sign the resolution, and every LLC document needs approving before it is relied on.
No set deadline
Estate file: inheritance tax waiver or hold escrow
Only where the seller is an estate. If the waiver is not filed, hold escrow. Get the estate questionnaire.
No set deadline
Call for tax, water and sewer figures with 30 days’ interest
Each is a separate call, and each needs the amount good through 30 days so the figure survives a short closing delay.
No set deadline
Order final water read
Confirm who is doing the final read. Hold escrow for water and sewer until it lands.
No set deadline
Request clearance items
Old policies, judgment payoffs and anything else needed to clear. Check the total does not exceed the policy amount.
No set deadline
Consideration over $1M: mansion tax and OTL approval
Check whether mansion tax applies and charge accordingly, and get OTL approval. New Jersey changed this in July 2025 — it is now tiered and paid by the seller — so confirm the current rate rather than working from memory.
No set deadline
Send required-items list to seller and buyer
21 days before closing
Make sure the buyer knows what to bring to closing
21 days before closing
Prepare CPL for the loan policy
Check whether any endorsement needs prior approval before issuing.
10 days before closing
Send reminder checklist for whatever is still outstanding
7 days before closing
Prepare the settlement statement
Prorate water, sewer and taxes. If tenanted, prorate rent and account for the security deposit. Apply any deposit held, and credit according to who is holding it. Hold escrow for the final water and sewer reads.
7 days before closing
Charges and fees: recording, attorney, settlement, deed prep, survey
Charge recording for the deed and the mortgage, the attorney fee if applicable, the settlement fee, deed preparation, and the survey if we ordered it. Save and check that title fees pull correctly on line 1101.
7 days before closing
Collect invoices for every fee on the settlement statement
The addresses on the invoices are what the checks get mailed to, so a missing invoice is a missing address at disbursement.
No set deadline
Send settlement statements to seller and buyer
3 days before closing
Deed approved by buyer
3 days before closing
Confirm time and place of closing with the buyer
3 days before closing
Rundown clear
1 business day before closing
Order updated tax search
1 business day before closing
Original seller documents in hand
1 business day before closing
Seller document checklist complete — do not close without these
Original hard-money discharge, seller photo ID, seller affidavit, resolution if the seller is an LLC, signed settlement statement, signed escrow agreement, and the signed HELOC closing account letter.
1 business day before closing
Buyer document checklist complete — do not close without these
Fully signed loan documents, borrower affidavit, borrower resolution if the buyer is an LLC taking a mortgage, and the buyer-signed settlement statement and escrow agreement.
1 business day before closing
Do not fund until every condition is met
Title marked up, all original seller documents in hand including affidavits and the 1099, seller deed matching the vesting in the file, and — where financed — lender funding approval. Confirm both attorneys have approved funding.
On closing
Send congratulations to all parties
1 business day after closing
Hand off to recording and scanning, and mark the file closed
Send recording, scanning and contact information to the closing department so they know the file closed, and mark it closed in the production system.
2 business days after closing
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