A federal judge has dismissed two suits targeting so-called “witness-only” real estate closings in Georgia, dealing a blow to real estate attorneys who are fighting companies that research and prepare all the documents for a transaction and then hire an attorney only to present the documents for signature.
The plaintiffs are people who purchased homes through these companies. They had sought class status in challenging the practice, which they argued violated federal law governing real estate transactions. The suits also claim that the closing companies and the lawyers they hired engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by allowing all of the pre-closing work to be done by outside agencies.
