Chalker & Chalker Attorneys

Chalker & Chalker is comprised of the father and son closing attorney team of Ken Chalker, Sr. and Ken Chalker, Jr. Ken Chalker, Sr. was admitted to the practice of law in 1966. For over 42 years he has been practicing real estate law in the Cobb, Cherokee, Fulton, Bartow, Gwinnett and Dekalb County markets.

Near the end of every year we receive many calls asking why do I owe the county taxes for the entire year? At closing we pro-rate taxes based usually on the prior year's tax amount. The seller gives the buyer a credit for their pro-rated share of taxes through that date.

If the taxes were to increase from the prior year there is a statement on the third page of the settlement statement that allows the buyer to request more money from the seller for their share of the taxes.If the closing occurred later in the year and the taxes had already been paid then the buyer would owe the seller the pro-rated share of taxes which they paid.

What follows is a copy of a letter I sent to several representatives of the Georgia legislature regarding proposed changes in Georgia Mortgage laws: Honorable Gentlemen and Ladies of the. Since 2010 all lenders have been required to provide borrowers with a new HUD Settlement Cost Booklet which runs about 50 pages.

I have been a residential real estate attorney for more than 20 years. My father, who passed away in September, was a real estate attorney for more than 40 years. We have lived through the Jimmy Carter years when interest rates were at 17 or 18%. We survived the early 80s with the Savings and Loan implosion and the RTC.

I read in this week's AJC that mortgage orders were down 61% from February. I can believe it. This is the worst market I have seen in over 20 years of doing this. We will survive as a firm due to our low fees, I can not imagine how the big dollar firms are staying around. For the indefinite future I will taking on a limited number of litigation matters.