What Is a Settlement Statement?
Also known as: Closing Statement, ALTA Settlement Statement
A settlement statement is the itemized closing ledger prepared by the title or escrow agent, listing every amount owed and paid out in the transaction: price, payoffs, fees, prorations, and credits. In a wholesale deal it is also where the assignment fee appears as a line item.
A settlement statement is the itemized closing ledger prepared by the title or escrow agent, listing every amount owed and paid out in the transaction: price, payoffs, fees, prorations, and credits. In a wholesale deal it is also where the assignment fee appears as a line item.
Settlement Statement explained
The statement balances sources and uses of funds. On one side are the buyer’s funds, the earnest money credit, and any financing. On the other are the seller’s payoffs, taxes and utilities prorated to the closing date, title and escrow fees, recording charges, commissions where agents are involved, and any credits agreed in the contract. Some versions split into buyer and seller pages, or into separate statements for each party. Where a new consumer mortgage is involved, the lender-required Closing Disclosure takes over for the borrower, while cash deals typically use a title-company statement.
This is the document where a wholesale deal’s economics become visible. In an assignment, the fee typically shows up as its own line paid from the end buyer’s funds, so the seller’s figures match the original contract. In a double close, two statements exist, one for the purchase from the seller and one for the resale, and the fee is the difference between them. Transaction coordinators should request a draft early and compare it line by line with the contract, the payoff letters, and the earnest money receipt.
Errors on the statement are common and easy to fix before closing, much harder afterward. Typical ones include a missing earnest money credit, the wrong party charged for a fee the contract assigned to someone else, outdated payoff amounts, and tax prorations built on the wrong date. Another problem is surprise: the seller should not be startled by what appears on their copy, and any state disclosure rules on assignment fees should be met. A shock at the table is how a smooth deal turns adversarial.
Example
On a double close, the title company sends the draft statements two days before closing. The coordinator notices the first statement lacks the earnest money credit and the second shows the wrong prorated tax date. Both are corrected in an afternoon, and the wholesaler’s fee, the gap between the two statements, matches what was expected.
Related VA Horizon resources
Keep learning the language of wholesaling
Frequently Asked Questions
Put the playbook to work
VA Horizon places trained cold calling VAs and builds the systems behind Settlement Statement and the rest of your wholesaling pipeline. Book a 15-minute call to see how it works.
Recommended next steps