Buyers moving to Fort Worth from other states are sometimes surprised that no attorney sits at the closing table. In a typical Texas residential purchase, the title company runs the closing. It is a neutral party that holds money in escrow, makes sure the seller can deliver clear title, insures that title, and carries out the financial side of the deal according to the contract and the lender's instructions.
The agents negotiate the contract. The lender underwrites and funds the loan. The title company ties both together.
The TREC resale contract names the title company, usually chosen during the offer. That choice is negotiable between buyer and seller. The contract also states who pays for the owner's title policy, and that is a contract blank too.
The lender's loan requires a separate lender's title policy. The lender also gives the buyer a written list of title providers if title services are shoppable, and the choice of provider can affect which tolerance group the title fees fall into on the Loan Estimate.
In Texas, title insurance premiums are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance. Every title company charges the same promulgated premium for the same policy and coverage amount. Other fees, such as escrow fees, can vary by company.
Title insurance protects against problems with ownership that already existed when the policy was issued, such as a forged deed in the chain of title, an undisclosed heir, a recording error, or a lien that the search missed. That is different from most insurance, which covers future events. The premium is paid once, at closing, and the policy stays in force for as long as the insured owns the property or holds the loan.
There are two policies in a financed purchase:
The lender requires its own policy. The owner's policy is the one that protects the buyer, and the contract says who pays for it.
When the contract is signed, the buyer delivers the earnest money and option fee to the title company as escrow agent within the contract's deadline. The title company holds the earnest money in its escrow account until closing, when it is credited to the buyer, or until the contract's release process sends it to one party or the other.
The title company searches the public records for the property's chain of ownership, liens, judgments, easements, restrictions, and other matters that affect title. It then issues a title commitment, which describes the policy it is prepared to issue and what has to happen first.
A Texas title commitment has several schedules:
Read Schedules B and C. The buyer does not need to become a title lawyer, but should ask about any exception or requirement that looks unusual before the objection period in the contract runs out. The contract gives the buyer a set time to object to items in the commitment and survey.
Lenders and title companies want evidence of the property's boundaries and improvements. Often the seller provides an existing survey with a T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit, swearing that no changes have been made since the survey. If the title company and lender accept it, no new survey is needed. If there have been changes, such as a new fence, a pool, or an addition, or if the existing survey is not acceptable, a new survey may be required.
The owner's policy normally excludes certain survey matters. The buyer can often pay to amend that exception, so the policy covers boundary and area issues that a survey would show. Whether that amendment is available depends on the survey and the title company's requirements.
If the survey is late, the closing is often late. That delay belongs to the survey, and it is separate from the lender's work.
The title company prepares the settlement statements for buyer and seller, coordinates figures with the lender's Closing Disclosure, and handles:
The title company schedules and conducts the signing. Its closer explains the documents, confirms identities, and notarizes signatures. It collects the buyer's cash to close and the lender's funds. After the lender authorizes funding, the title company disburses: paying off the seller's loan, paying commissions and costs, and sending the seller's proceeds.
The title company then sends the deed and deed of trust to the county clerk for recording. In Tarrant County, the county clerk records them. After closing, the title company issues the owner's and lender's title policies.
The buyer's cash to close usually goes by wire to the title company. Wiring instructions come from the title company. Verify them by calling a phone number you found yourself, such as on the title company's website, and never rely on a number provided in a last-minute email. Anyone about to wire money for a closing should hear that warning directly.
Fictional example: consider a Fort Worth file where the lender issues clear to close, but the title commitment still shows an unreleased lien from a prior owner. The lender's clear to close does not release that lien. The title company will not close until the lien is released or handled in a way its underwriter accepts. Both approvals are needed before the closing can happen.
That is the general pattern. The lender decides whether to lend. The title company decides whether it can insure title and close.
Buyers sometimes ask the title company to change the interest rate, or ask the lender to change a title exception. Each can explain the other's process, but neither can do the other's job.
"Title is title" leads buyers to skip reading the exceptions. Schedule B is where the policy draws its lines.
Fictional example: a Fort Worth buyer's commitment lists three Schedule C requirements. The first is the payoff and release of the seller's mortgage, which the title company handles at closing. The second is an abstract of judgment against a prior owner with a similar name; the title company clears it with an identity affidavit. The third is proof that a deceased co-owner's interest passed to the seller, which needs probate records. The first two are routine. The third can take weeks, so the buyer's agent asks the listing agent about it the day the commitment arrives, not the week of closing.
For what you will pay the title company and when, see cash to close.
If you are relocating to Fort Worth and want to know how the lender and title sides fit together on your purchase, I can walk you through the timeline before you go under contract. Book a call, or start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026