A lender must ascertain prior to closing the preference of the borrower to legal counsel, as found in 37-10-102. Additionally, in Doe v. Condon an Attorney must supervise the closing and preparation of documents.

It's clear that an Attorney must supervise the closing, but not representing the interest of the borrower, rather the interest of the Title Co. I see no indication of waiver for the borrower on the form given from the Administrator.

Question: May a borrower waive the right as given in 37-10-102 and not be represented?

I'm certainly no attorney, but my understanding of this law was to protect the borrower's interest in the closing, thus the reason the borrower chooses the closing attorney. I have never seen anything that indicates the borrower can waive representation.

The reason I ask is on the disclosure that Company A gives to the borrower, Company A states at the top, if the borrower chooses not to have an Attorney represent them, there are instructions of what the borrower is to write should they wish to waive this right.

I've never seen it that way, in fact, previous experience leads me to believe that South Carolina is an Attorney "must" state. If the borrower doesn't have a preference, then the lender gives a list of Attorneys to choose from. Which is consistent with the form given by the Administrator. Does anyone know of case law for or against the waiver?

As a follow up; The SC Dept of Consumer Affairs responded that Attorney/Insurance right in question here "Cannot be waived". Hope this helps anyone in the future.