I went to the court date, my tenant showed up and we agreed to a mediated settlement where she officially gave up possession (she had already left except for some junk), and paid me back in 3 installments.

In theory you could try to bring him to small claims court and seek a settlement but I highly doubt that would be worth the trouble, and tenants know this. 

A good title / settlement company will make sure all the transaction pieces are submitted / final utilities ordered so you can close on time.

It is treated different than a liability/3rd party claim where there is one, full & final settlement. 

I've used a settlement statement, because your city/county records won't be updated in time for that to be used for confirmation.

But after all that almost two years after final settlement and contract end builder says he got the reconciliation and final bill wrong and wants another 20k.

And I have seen some accountants who simply count it if it's on the settlement statement. 

Between 2000 and 2008 some of the properties that I personally owned increased by 400%, and that was in Pennsylvania, so I'm sure that in other growth areas of the country the inflation rate was significantly higher.I have a settlement tomorrow on a property i bought in 1994, and rented to one tenant for 24 years.

Depending on what you call a “huge” crack, it could be settlement issues which yeah, will be expensive.

If they are at another company as associate broker/agent then there is usually a split with the brokerage.Residential properties tend to fall under RESPA (real estate procedures and settlement act).