Title Insurance Choices

Consumers typically go with a recommendation not knowing they have a choice of title insurer.Americans spend more than $16 billion annually for title insurance when buying, selling or refinancing their homes. What’s more, title insurers have been fined repeatedly for illegally giving concert tickets, trips and even cash kickbacks to real estate agencies, lenders and builders.

“Consumers of title insurance often tend not to get the best deal because they’re not the ones who end up selecting which title insurance policy they will end up buying,” California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said in an interview.

Title Insurance Woes

Demotech Inc. says last year may have been the worst since 2002 for title insurers.
That’s according to a new report that analyzes the title industry’s third-quarter results.
Tighter lending standards are limiting the availability of lower interest rate mortgages to only the most qualified buyers

Land America Title

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. has agreed to pay up to $3.5 million in penalties and refunds to consumers to settle allegations by California regulators that three title insurers under the company umbrella overcharged — or in some cases, undercharged — consumers- Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co., and Transnation Title Insurance Co.

California Department of Insurance reached a separate, $4.5 million settlement in 2006 with LandAmerica to resolve allegations that the same companies employed captive reinsurance schemes to funnel kickbacks to builders, lenders and real estate agents who referred business to them from 1997 to 2004.

2008 Fund Real Estate Forecast

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/01/07/daily8.html

The Florida housing market has flattened and is expected to begin its recovery, a report released Monday by Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund showed.

The 2008 Fund Real Estate Forecast shows every county in the Sunshine State experienced a slowdown last year. The markets flattened in spring 2007, before the subprime mortgage crisis in August knocked markets down an additional 10 percent statewide, the report says.

The forecast shows that Orlando continues to be the state’s strongest residential market due to the large number of fast-growing industries, including tourism, health care, education and defense manufacturing.

“Florida has a very large and powerful economy that has gone through a cyclical downshift, but it is still outperforming compared to the rest of the nation,” said economist Hank Fishkind, who created the report, in a news release. “The market has some indigestion now, but housing markets will return to normal during the next few years.”

Missouri fines two First American Title

Two title insurance companies under the First American Corp. umbrella have agreed to pay $240,000 in fines for allegedly failing to make sure that independent title agencies writing policies on their behalf used the correct rates.

First American Title Insurance Co. and Land Title Insurance Co. of St. Louis allowed title agencies to use incorrect risk rates, or rates not filed with the Missouri Department of Insurance, regulators said.

Alliance Title

Alliance Title Co., A title company in went bellyup.20000 employees and 200 branches has closed.

According to the California Department of Insurance, closings and escrow accounts being handled by Alliance are being transferred to a sister company, Financial Title Co., in areas where that company has offices.

First American Title Insurance Co.

First American Title Insurance Co. has agreed to pay a $5 million fine and sever ties to 87 limited partnership title agencies in Florida to settle allegations the company paid kickbacks to builders, bankers, real estate agents and brokers in exchange for business referrals.

First American Corp. Caused the Mortgage Mess?

First American Corp. of Sant Ana , CA said its third-quarter profit dropped 48%, due to declining revenue in its core title insurance business.

“Sharp declines in mortgage originations created a challenging operating environment,” Chief Executive Parker Kennedy said.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said that he has sued the company, alleging that one of its business units colluded with Washington Mutual Inc. to inflate the appraisal values of homes. And that this company started the mortgage meltdown.

First American said it expects to pay $7.2 million of an estimated maximum $20 million of insurance claims from the recent California wildfires. Reinsurance carriers will cover the rest.

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