Closing Attorney & Title Services in Chapel Hill, TN

Maybe you are under contract on a house in Chapel Hill, or on a lot in one of the new sections going in off Old Highway 99. The contract is the statewide form, and it is silent on the three things this town is still working out: how much water it can supply, which new subdivisions it will approve, and where the town line falls. Any one of them can decide whether your house gets built, whether it gets water, and how many tax bills come with it. Send the contract to Vanderpool Law before you sign, and those questions get asked while the answers can still change the deal.

Water comes first on this page because it comes first at Town Hall. The town draws ground water from two wells of its own and buys the rest from the Marshall County Board of Public Utilities, which buys it from Lewisburg. In July 2025 the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted 6-0 to extend a temporary moratorium on new residential subdivisions over water supply; whether that moratorium is still in place is a question for the town, so ask it. In May 2026 the board approved a wholesale water purchase from the Bedford County Utility District, engineering for a line to connect the two systems, and a process for temporary water permits. If you are buying a lot, or a house that is not finished, have the town confirm in writing that the address will get water service, and make that a condition of the contract. Buying a house that already has water? The account does not pass with the deed - the town's service application is non-transferable - so you apply in your own name. ^‡‡‡‡

New streets here arrive one planning commission vote at a time, and the votes do not all go one way. In February 2026 the commission approved the final plat for The Groves at Chapel Hill, Phase 1, Section 1, at 2071 Old Highway 99, on conditions that included two temporary cul-de-sac turnaround easements, a review of the restrictive covenants and a performance bond. In June it denied the preliminary plat for Phase 2, citing the water moratorium, a traffic study and the rail crossing. In July it deferred a reconsideration and set a special called meeting for August 17, 2026; what came of that meeting is something to ask the town, not something to assume. The Ellington Subdivision on Morningside Drive and Spring Creek Street, owned by CastleRock Communities, had its final plat deferred in July and is back on the agenda in October. Before you sign for a new house in either one, ask which phase and section the lot is in, whether that plat has been recorded, and what the recorded covenants say. An easement marked temporary on a plat is still worth reading before it sits on your lot. ^‡‡‡‡ What title insurance covers, and what it does not →

If you move into one of the first houses in a new section, expect the street outside to keep changing. Chapel Hill's 2023 subdivision regulations hold back the top layer of pavement until at least three-quarters of the houses are finished, and a developer who still owes public improvements posts a bond the planning commission can call. Spring Creek Farms shows how long that can run: paving was among the last items its developer owed in May 2025, and in July 2026 the commission set a punch-list deadline to keep its bonds from being called. Get the developer's answer in writing on who finishes the road and by when. ^‡‡‡

On the older streets, the paper and the ground do not always agree. In July 2026 the town's Board of Zoning Appeals granted a lot-size variance on Maple Street after hearing that a subdivision drawn more than a hundred years ago showed the property as three separate lots, and that the deed of record did not match the surveyor's lines. In a town settled in 1808, expect that. On an older in-town lot, order a current survey before closing and have it checked against the deed, so you learn where your lines really run while there is still time to deal with it. And if you want to add on, build a shop or split the lot, confirm the zoning with town staff first; the town's own planning page says not to rely on its map alone. ^‡‡‡

Two more lines matter, and the contract shows neither. The first is the town limit. Inside it, Chapel Hill levies its own property tax as well as Marshall County's, so the proration at closing covers two bills, not one. The limit also moves: in June 2026 the town annexed 4530 Nashville Highway, inside its urban growth boundary. Outside the limits, Marshall County's zoning and building codes govern, and the county's permit guide wants a valid septic permit and proof of an adequate water source before a new house goes up. The second is the county line. A Chapel Hill address is not proof of the county, because the 37034 ZIP code runs well beyond the town, so check the parcel's county rather than the mailing address. That answer decides which Register records your deed and which Trustee sends the tax bill. ^{‡‡‡‡‡‡} Who pays which closing costs in Tennessee →