It’s getting a little warm in the kitchen of Real Estate

Two questions have been eating at me for some time.
First, one of the most difficult questions to answer deals with my own brethren in the escrow industry. Why is it that a traditionally transaction “neutral escrow company or service” only receives compensation if a transaction successfully closes?

To me, at least in the realm of escrow, this is the mother of all potential conflicts of interest. Isn’t it a conflict of interest to the parties involved and our fiduciary duty to the lender (yes, folks we do have a duty to protect the lender from potential fraud, which is clearly stated in escrow instructions from some lenders) if we are only paid if the deal closes? Wouldn’t that create a lot of problems, particularly if you have pressure from loan officers or Realtors to “just get it done