Real Estate
Slide the Paperwork Under the Door: Mortgage Boom Is Upended
- Refis, sales seen slowing as social distancing becomes norm
- Closings occur in garages, with papers passed through a door
It has all the trappings of a routine mortgage refinance closing. The mortgage broker, the lawyer and the homeowner, all signing off on the paperwork that will cut the interest rate on a single-family home in suburban Fairfield, Connecticut.
But as agreed, the broker and lawyer will stay in the garage. And the papers will be passed one by one, through a crack in the door, so their client can sign them and reduce the risk of face-to-face contact.