Have you ever bought a fake title policy?

Question

Most of you have never had this happen to you and never will but I can tell you from personal experience it happens more times than you might think.

https://wlos.com/news/local/ginger-lynn-cunningham-hendersonville-brevard-fake-insurace-policy-buncombe-county-commonwealth

Steve Morris · Answer

In OR (and WA) most title companies are under the purview of state insurance commissioner that sets their rates.  TX is a more "open" market, so I'd check with the state first.

However, about half of the legitimate title companies are owned by Fidelity whom I don't have a problem with.

Yet in 2009, when things got rocky, there was a real issue with escrow funds being secure in smaller companies also.

I hate to say it, but stick with large legitimate title companies and not one-man offices.

Peter Walther · Answer

Where would I find the stats to back up your claim about half the legitimate title companies are owned by Fidelity?  In my experience the best thing to do is contact the underwriter the agent is purportedly representing, they will be able to confirm or deny the agent's standing and make sure you are dealing with the actual agent.  About two years ago I two claims from the same CA based lender on FL property who claimed their first payment default mtgs were never recorded.  My investigation found some bad actors had set up a company with a similar sounding name as our agent and the lender dealt with their contact exclusively via email.  They wound up being scammed out of about $1.5M.

Dakota Burkeen · Answer

@Peter Walther That is unsettling, how can we protect ourselves from something like this? Thank you for spreading the word.