On Dec. 1, local title company James A. Lesniak & Co. announced that they would be closing at the end of this year. An announcement was emailed to clients:

“After 36 years of helping Springfield to buy, sell and refinance real estate, we have made the difficult decision to close the business. We will cease accepting new title orders today, Dec. 1, and will close permanently at the end of 2017. We request that any closings be scheduled prior to Dec. 22, 2017, so we shall have ample time to issue final title policies. Thank you for nearly four decades of your trust and business!”

The office is located at 6 Lawrence Square in Springfield.

Reached by phone, James Lesniak said that he would prefer not to elaborate on the written statement, although he did clarify that he was not retiring, but rather “moving on to future endeavors.”