Client intake for real estate law.

Real estate runs on dates printed in a document the person has already signed. A financing condition due Friday, a closing in three weeks, a deposit that was due yesterday. The intake has to take those dates as written, not as remembered, and ask for the agreement by name. It also has to capture more parties than most matters: a buyer, a seller, two agents and their brokerages, a lender, a builder, a condominium corporation or association, and the lawyer on the other side. A firm that acts for the seller's agent's brokerage cannot quietly act for the buyer. The disputes, deposits, defects, boundaries and title, arrive with the same paper and the same names.

• Whether this is a purchase, a sale, a refinance, a lease, or a dispute about one of those.
• The property address, and whether it is a house, a condominium unit, land or a commercial property.
• Whether an agreement has been signed, by whom, and on what date.
• The closing date, exactly as written in the agreement.
• Any conditions, financing, inspection, sale of another property, and the date on each, as written.
• The deposit: the amount stated in the agreement, whether it has been paid, and to whom.
• The other party's name, and the agents and brokerages on both sides.
• The lender, if any, and whether a commitment has been issued.
• Who else will be on title, or is on title now.
• For a dispute: what happened, what the person has in writing, and what has been said by the other side.

• The other party to the transaction, and their spouse or co-owner where named.
• Both agents and both brokerages.
• The lender and any mortgage broker.
• The builder or developer, in a new-build purchase.
• The condominium corporation or owners' association, where one exists.
• The lawyer acting on the other side, if known.

A closing within days, a condition date this week, a deposit deadline, a notice of default from a lender, or a seller threatening to walk. The intake records each date as it appears in the document and flags the matter to the lawyer as time-sensitive. It never tells the person whether a date is binding, whether it can be extended, or whether it has already passed.

• It never says whether the person can withdraw from an agreement, or what it would cost to.
• It never interprets a clause, a condition or a disclosure.
• It never says whether a condition date, a closing date or a limitation period has passed.
• It never advises on price, on waiving a condition, or on what to say to an agent.
• It never contacts an agent, a lender or the other party.

The machine takes the statement. The lawyer takes the case.