Title Insurance and Escrow in WA, Explained for Agents Who Skipped the Class
Washington closes deals through escrow and title companies, not attorneys. Here's what that actually means for your job between mutual acceptance and recording — and how to catch a deal-killer before it costs you the commission.
Why WA Is an Escrow-and-Title State
In some states a lawyer sits at the closing table. Washington isn't one of them. Here, a neutral escrow company holds the money and documents, and a title insurance company researches the chain of title and insures it. You can absolutely refer a client to a WA-licensed attorney, and on a messy estate or boundary dispute you should — but the default closing is handled by escrow and title, not counsel.
For you, that changes the job description between mutual acceptance and recording. Nobody is automatically reading the contract for legal landmines on your client's behalf. The escrow officer follows the instructions in the purchase and sale agreement; the title company reports what's on the title; and the agent is the one who connects those dots to the deadlines in the contract. Miss that connection and a curable problem turns into a blown closing.
The clock starts at mutual acceptance — when the last party signs and the other side is notified. Every contingency period in your transaction counts from that moment, so the day you go mutual is the day you should already know who the escrow and title company are.
Reading the Title Commitment Before It Reads You
A few days after escrow opens, the title company issues a preliminary commitment (the "prelim"). It's the company's offer to insure, and it's split into schedules. Schedule A is the who and what: the proposed insured, the policy amount, the type of estate (almost always fee simple), and the current vested owner. First thing to check — does the vested owner match the seller on your contract? A name mismatch means a probate, a trust, a divorce, or an unreleased prior sale, and that's a timeline problem you want surfaced on day one, not day twenty.
Schedule B is where deals die. These are the exceptions — everything the policy will NOT cover unless it's cleared first: recorded easements, CC&Rs and HOA restrictions, utility and access rights, and any monetary liens (mortgages, tax liens, mechanic's liens, judgments, support liens). Read every numbered exception. An easement bisecting the buildable area, a CC&R that forbids the ADU your buyer is counting on, or a lien larger than the seller's equity can each end a transaction. Monetary liens generally get paid off at closing from seller proceeds; use-and-occupancy exceptions usually don't go away, so your buyer has to decide whether they can live with them.
This review is exactly what Form 22T governs. The NWMLS Title Contingency gives the buyer a default of 5 business days to review the commitment and object to exceptions they won't accept. Five business days or fewer means the WA business-day rule applies — weekends and state holidays don't count (RCW 1.16.050) — so a Wednesday-issued prelim with a holiday Monday can push the objection deadline further out than the calendar suggests. Read the prelim the day it lands; don't let your buyer burn the window. This is the kind of date math SENTINEL computes deterministically rather than counting on your fingers.
Owner's vs Lender's Policy — and Who Pays in King, Pierce, and Snohomish
There are two policies, and they protect different people. The owner's policy protects the buyer's ownership against title defects that predate closing — a forged deed in the chain, a missed heir, an unreleased lien. It's issued for the purchase price and lasts as long as your client owns the property. The lender's policy protects only the lender's security interest in the loan amount, and a lender will require one on any financed purchase. They're separate policies with separate premiums, even though they're issued off the same title work.
Who pays is set by custom and is negotiable in the PSA — never assume. The long-running Western Washington convention is that the seller pays for the owner's policy (they're warranting clean title) and the buyer pays for the lender's policy tied to their loan. That custom is common across King, Pierce, and Snohomish, but it is a starting point, not a rule: split-the-fee and buyer-pays arrangements show up in competitive offers and on new construction. Confirm the allocation in the contract for the specific deal in front of you, because the answer drives the net sheet on both sides.
On a cash purchase there's no lender's policy and no lender requirement, which is exactly when a buyer is tempted to skip the owner's policy to save a few hundred dollars. Lay out the trade-off plainly and let them decide — characterizing it beyond the facts crosses into legal advice you're not there to give.
The Escrow Timeline: Earnest Money to Recording
Earnest money typically goes to escrow within 2 business days of mutual acceptance under Form 21's standard language, held in a trust account — not the listing brokerage, not the seller. From there, escrow assembles the file: the title commitment, the loan package if financed, the payoff statements for any liens, the property tax proration, and the closing instructions drawn from the contract. As the agent, you keep that file moving by making sure inspection, financing, and title contingencies are satisfied or waived on schedule.
Before signing, both sides receive a settlement statement (the closing disclosure on a financed deal, or an escrow settlement statement on cash) itemizing every debit and credit — commission, title premiums, escrow fees, prorated taxes, payoffs, and the REET. Check it line by line against the contract and your net sheet before your client sits down to sign; a transposed figure caught the day before is a quick fix, and caught at the table it's a delay. Run the seller's number ahead of time with a real REET calculation so there are no surprises.
At closing, the deed and deed of trust are recorded with the county, and the Real Estate Excise Tax affidavit is filed alongside — recording won't complete without it. REET is graduated state tax (1.10% up to $525,000, 1.28% from there to $1.525M, 2.75% to $3.025M, and 3.00% above) plus the 0.50% local portion in King, Pierce, and Snohomish, and the seller customarily pays unless the PSA shifts it. The transaction is legally complete at recording, not at signing — funds disburse and keys change hands once the county confirms the recording.
Wire Fraud: The Conversation You Have on Day One
Wire fraud is the single most expensive thing that can go wrong in escrow, and it lands on the client, not the title company. The scam is simple: a criminal monitoring email sends the buyer fake wiring instructions that look like they came from escrow, and the money is gone the moment it hits the wrong account. Have the safeguard conversation when escrow opens, not the day funds are due.
Coach your buyer on a few non-negotiables: escrow and title companies do not change wiring instructions by email, so treat any emailed change as fraud until proven otherwise. Always call the escrow officer at a number the client looked up independently — never a number or link from the wiring email — and verbally confirm the account before sending a dollar. After wiring, call escrow again to confirm the funds arrived. Put it in writing to your client so the warning is on record. You're not their bank or their lawyer, but you are the person who can make sure they never trust an email with six figures.
This is where keeping the whole transaction in one place earns its keep — SENTINEL tracks each deal's deadlines and contingency clocks so the escrow timeline, the Form 22T window, and the closing date all stay in front of you instead of scattered across inboxes.
Transaction workflow · no login
Turn the article into a deal-specific verification question.
Bring the exact executed terms and triggering events. Sentinel asks only for missing inputs, calculates from what you enter, and keeps broker or attorney verification boundaries visible.
Build and inspect the question publicly. Starting a private workspace afterward is optional.
Frequently asked
- Does Washington require an attorney to close a real estate transaction?
- No. Washington is an escrow-and-title state, so closings are normally handled by a neutral escrow company and a title insurance company rather than an attorney. A client may still hire a WA-licensed attorney — and should on complex estate, trust, or boundary matters — but it is not required for a standard residential closing.
- What is a Schedule B exception on a title commitment?
- Schedule B lists everything the title policy will not insure unless it is cleared first — recorded easements, CC&Rs and HOA restrictions, access and utility rights, and monetary liens like mortgages, tax liens, and judgments. Monetary liens are usually paid off at closing from seller proceeds; use-and-occupancy exceptions such as easements typically remain, so the buyer has to decide whether they can accept them.
- How long does the buyer have to review title under Form 22T?
- The NWMLS Form 22T Title Contingency default is 5 business days for the buyer to review the preliminary commitment and object to unacceptable exceptions. Because the period is 5 days or fewer, weekends and Washington state holidays are excluded under RCW 1.16.050, so the deadline can fall later than a straight calendar count. Always confirm the period written into your specific contract.
- Who pays for title insurance in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties?
- By Western Washington custom the seller usually pays for the owner's policy and the buyer pays for the lender's policy on a financed purchase, and that convention is common across King, Pierce, and Snohomish. It is negotiable in the PSA, though, so confirm the allocation in the actual contract rather than assuming the default.
- What's the difference between an owner's and a lender's title policy?
- An owner's policy protects the buyer's ownership against title defects that existed before closing, is issued for the purchase price, and lasts as long as the client owns the property. A lender's policy protects only the lender's security interest in the loan amount and is required on any financed purchase. They are separate policies with separate premiums issued from the same title work.