making your deal happen

Lerch Early, as an agent for Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company, and First American Title Insurance Company, offers both closing and title insurance services related to Maryland and District of Columbia commercial real estate transactions.

Lerch Early also has a subsidiary title company, Presidential Title & Escrow Company, LLC, to handle Virginia commercial and residential real estate transactions. All closings can be handled in the main Bethesda office as well as in the Northern Virginia office.

Experienced Commercial Title Counsel

Many of our attorneys have acted as title and/or closing attorneys for more than three decades. We are licensed Maryland and District of Columbia title agents and producers. Our experience in handling various kinds of complex commercial transactions including multi-property sites, SBA loan transactions and 1031 exchanges sets us apart from other local title companies that predominately handle residential transactions.

Title Insurance Protection

Title insurance protects a property owner and/or a lender in the event title to a property proves to be defective after a purchase or loan transaction. For example, title insurance can protect against forged deeds and other recordable documents in the chain of title, invalid deeds delivered after the death of the grantor orclaims for unpaid taxes that can lead to the imposition of a lien on the property. In most cases, purchasers of real property or borrowers in loan transactions involving real property select the title company that will conduct the closing and issue final title insurance policies. We offer both owner’s and lender’s policies to protect each of their respective interests in the title to commercial property.

As part of closing, we will order a title search, a survey (if required), payoff statements, zoning letters (if required), and real estate tax information as due diligence prior to issuing a title commitment. The title commitment then serves as the basis for the purchaser and the lender’s final title insurance policies, which are issued after closing.

Convenience for All Parties

Our office also employs several Maryland notaries available to facilitate document execution. We employ a stand-alone accounting department that regularly handles incoming and outgoing wires to ensure closing funds are directed appropriately and on time. We are conveniently located one block from the Bethesda Metro Station and have on-site parking available for all parties. Our goal is to make the closing process as smooth and seamless as possible.

Success Stories

Adventist HealthCare

Challenge

The senior living subsidiary of Adventist HealthCare a number of its subsidiaries decided to sell six skilled nursing facilities. The sale to Genesis HealthCare involved multiple owners and jurisdictions.

Strategy

Adventist HealthCare owned five of the facilities and one was jointly owned by Frederick Memorial Hospital. Four of the facilities were located in Montgomery County, and the remaining two were located in Prince George’s County and Frederick County. The multi-million dollar transaction, which took the better part of a year to complete, involved the sale and lease of real estate, the sale of the ongoing business operations of the nursing facilities, defeasance of bond financing, and various ancillary issues. Lerch Early attorneys worked closely with in-house counsel and a number of other representatives of Adventist HealthCare to negotiate the sales contracts, satisfy due diligence requirements, and successfully complete the transfer.

Result

Adventist HealthCare now is able to focus care for the community’s senior population through its various programs, partnerships and entities.

Howard University

Challenge

Lerch Early serves as primary outside real estate counsel to Howard University.  For the past several years, the now 150 year old University has been leveraging certain of its Washington, DC real estate assets to improve the campus environment and the experience of its most valuable assets – the students, faculty and staff of the University.

Strategy

In 2016-2017, Lerch Early attorneys worked with the University’s internal legal and finance teams and its outside real estate advisor, Alvarez and Marsal, to structure a unique arrangement among  Howard Dormitory Holdings 1, LLC, a wholly-owned and title-holding company of Howard University, and Howard University (collectively, the “University Parties”) and Corvias Campus Living, LLC (“Corvias”).  Lerch Early represented the University Parties in drafting and negotiating the concessionaire, project management and residential life agreements, entity formation agreements, construction contracts, financing documents, and other operative  agreements in connection with the transaction, as well as assisting the University Parties in addressing and resolving numerous legal and business issues associated with the transaction.

Result

The innovative 40-year partnership among the University Parties and Corvias raised $144 million, a portion of which will fund the renovation and modernization of the Howard Towers, will provide for the ongoing management of the Howard Towers and two additional residence halls, and will create, for the long-term, a sizable reserve fund for future capital expenses.

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