McCants J Lynn Atty

Mr. McCants represented us in the purchase of a house. He is smooth, polite and professional– like a Boy Scout with a law degree.

McCants charges too much.
I was selling my home, and McCants was the closing attorney chosen by the buyer. When I got the settlement statement, some of the fees seemed a bit high and some of them were ones I hadn’t seen on previous settlement statements I’ve had. That made me suspicious.
I tallied up all the charges under the «Title Charges» section (regardless of whether buyer or seller paid) and compared them to the settlement statement from when I bought the same house 5 years ago — even though the «title insurance» itself did not increase, McCants’ title charges were $ 700 more than the original from 5 years ago. Which means the difference is due solely to title-​related fees. McCants charged $ 1900 when Dodds & Hennessy charged $ 1200 (including $ 600 for title insurance that did not increase).
When I argued about the fees with McCants, he told me his fees were standard and that Dodds & Hennessy probably cut a deal with the builder and had a set fee schedule just for the builder. Y’know, I can see D & H maybe giving a 10−20% discount, but that’s a 60% increase. I can’t see any lawyer doing that steep of a cut, even for a builder. The difference can’t be due to home value increase over that 5 year period either, because I actually sold my house for $ 3k LESS than I bought it for.
When I specifically pointed out fees that showed up on McCants settlement statement that did not show up on one of my past Weeks & Irvine settlement statements from the past year, he called their settlement statement an aberration. Funny, I’ve used them multiple times, scrutinized their settlement statements just as closely, and never felt that they were being unfairly high like I do McCants.
I would not recommend going through McCants for house closings unless you’re prepared to pay +60% in the title charges section.