Update links for your lender, escrow officer and the other agent

The relay problem

A lot of escrow news doesn’t start with you. The lender knows when the appraisal is back. The escrow officer knows when the earnest money landed. The other agent knows when the repairs are done. Usually that news reaches you by phone or email, and then you pass it on: to your client, to your TC, and into your notes.

Partner update links remove the middle step. The person who knows taps a button on their own page, and your client’s board reflects it, in standard wording that reads the same on every deal. You still see everything, and you still close the deal yourself.

What your lender, escrow officer and the other agent see

Each person gets an email in your name with a link to their own page for this deal. Replying to that email reaches you. There’s no account to create and no password to remember.

The page shows the deal’s client-visible steps (what’s done, what’s due, who it’s waiting on) and a “Post an update” section with buttons for that person’s role:

• Lender: Appraisal ordered, Appraisal scheduled, Appraisal received, Approved with conditions, Clear to close, Closing Disclosure sent, Loan documents sent to escrow, Loan funded.
• Title / escrow: Escrow opened, Earnest money received, Preliminary title report issued, Title clear, Signing scheduled, Closing figures ready, Recorded — it’s closed.
• The other side’s agent: Repairs completed, Home ready for the walk-through, Keys ready.

Before anything goes, they see exactly what your clients will read. Scheduled milestones, like the appraisal or the signing, ask for a date and time, plus a place for a signing. They can add an optional note, and a “Something’s off?” button sends a problem straight to you.

Their page never shows documents, your messages with clients, or your clients’ contact details. For documents, it shows the deal’s own email address, so they can send files the way they already do; there are no uploads on the page itself. A lender whose loan software can call a web address can connect it too: their page shows a private address for that and the milestone names it understands.

What your clients hear, and what they never hear

When a partner taps a milestone, they first see exactly what your clients will read, then tap “Post it”. One of three things happens:

• If an open step on the timeline matches it, that step is checked off. Your clients hear about it the usual way, about a minute later, and the deal’s Activity tab records who reported it.
• If it’s a scheduled milestone, the matching step gets its appointment time, and your clients get the calendar invite.
• If nothing on the timeline matches, it becomes an update on the board, starting “From your lender:” followed by the standard sentence for that milestone. Your clients hear about it a minute later, and until then the partner’s page offers Undo. Updates sent by a lender’s loan software go out at once.

In every case the wording is ClosedEasy’s, never the partner’s. A typed note can’t reach your client by accident, because notes don’t go to clients at all. They land in your bell and the deal’s Activity tab. A “Something’s off?” message is also emailed to you and any coordinators on the deal, and replying to it reaches the partner.

When escrow reports “Closing figures ready,” the client message always carries the wire-fraud warning: never wire money based on an email or text, and call the escrow officer at a number you know is real first.

Partners never check off the closing step. When escrow taps “Recorded — it’s closed,” your clients are told and you’re asked to close the deal. You get a bell for every partner update either way.

How to set it up

1. Open the deal and go to its Settings tab.
2. Under “Key people on this file,” add the lender, the title or escrow contact, or the other side’s agent, with their email (“Add a person” for each; the list can hold the inspector, attorney and others too, but update links are for these three). You can also fill these in when you create the deal.
3. Tap “Send update link” next to the person. They get an email in your name with their link.
4. Keep an eye on the card: it shows when the link was sent, how many updates they’ve posted and the last one.
5. Use “Send again” to resend the same link, “Copy link” to share it yourself, or “Turn off” to stop it right away.

Good to know

• The link needs the person’s email address, and it isn’t available on sample or archived deals.
• Each milestone posts once. A scheduled one, like the appraisal time, can be moved later.
• Each link can post up to 30 updates a day.
• The link works until 30 days after closing and follows the closing date if it moves. Posting stops when you turn it off, when the deal is archived or closed more than 30 days ago, or if your plan has ended.
• Once a deal is closed, its timeline stays locked, so reports become updates on the board instead of check-offs.
• Matching goes by step name. If your timeline names a step differently, the report arrives as an update instead, and you can tick the step yourself.
• This is different from the read-only link on the Client & invite tab, which lets a lender or escrow officer view status for 7 to 90 days but post nothing.