JUNE 2023 ISSUE

TIME IS MONEY!!

How much time does your office spend trying to track down an Abstract after a transaction closed from the multitude of title companies in WNY? How much time does your office spend trying to obtain a final policy?

You may have noticed more activity coming from Chicago Title when it comes to Closed Searches and Final Title Policies. That's because we have completely changed our closing process. Within just a few months from the time we receive your closing package, the Search will have the new closing information updated and the final title policy is sent out! Our team is working extremely hard to from the moment your order is received to the time the closing documents are returned. Chicago Title is one of the few title companies that upholds its policy to return closed searches to the customer and not keep for future gain.

Beginning in early 2022, Chicago Title set out on a mission to drastically improve our turnaround times on both new Search and TI orders as well as post closing documents. We listened to our customers and our employees, and carried out a plan to devote more resources into this mission. The results have been nothing short of spectacular.

Time is money and we know how frustrating it can be to track down post closing documents. When it comes to getting the highest quality product in the most efficient way, you can count on Chicago Title!

Need to place an order? Try our online order platform: https://northernnyorder.ctic.com/OnlineOrders/#/login

If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach us:

Jeff Leichtnam

Account Executive

jeffrey.leichtnam@ctt.com

716.200.5872

SHORTENED HOURS FOR MONDAY, JULY 3RD

Chicago Title's Buffalo and Lockport offices will close at 3:00pm on Monday July 3rd, to give our employees some additional time to enjoy the Independence Day holiday. That means we will also be closed on July 4.

Normal business hours return on Wednesday, July 5

You've probably read about real estate scams, wire fraud and instances of title theft. We post a Fraud Insights article in almost every issue of our newsletter. In fact, the NY Attorney General is proposing new legislation to combat some forms of title theft here in New York State.

Aside from the scams and fraud, there are plenty of title defects that can remain with a property once it is conveyed. Your buyers should know about these and how to protect themselves. Here are the Top 10 Reasons to obtain a Fee (Owner's) Policy:

10. An attorney who relies on local, parochial community standards of practice is taking a risk in light of large and impersonal global market forces.

9. Lenders go to great lengths to minimize their risk of lending to you by obtaining a loan policy. Sophisticated commercial buyers insist on title insurance; so should you.

8. When purchased with a loan policy, the premium is substantially reduced. The cost is very small compared with the benefit and security a policy offers.

7. The premium paid once for as long as you, or your heirs, own your home.

6. Without a policy, you pay all the costs of defending title to your property; including court cost and legal fees. If unsuccessful, the result could be a total loss of title. (And you may still owe the remaining balance on your note). With a policy, the title company pays to defend your title and either clears up the problem or pays the insured's (your) losses. Title insurance is a strict form of assurance. No showing of fault is required.

5. Even the most thorough search cannot absolutely assure that no title hazards are present, despite the knowledge and experience of professional title examiners.

4. The attorney, county clerk and abstractor may not be liable for a title defect, based upon local community standards of practice, or the statute of limitations for malpractice or negligence may have run, even if they were liable, so you, the homeowner, may have no recourse in the even a defect does arise.

3. Correcting title problems is very costly and time consuming.

2. You are protected up to the full amount of the policy (usually what you paid for your property). You can obtain a rider that increases the coverage as the value of the home increases.

1. Protects the title to possibly the most important investment you'll ever make - your home.

You can download the full document in PDF format to provide to your buyers by clicking here

The Attorneys General in Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania have filed complaints for relief against a real estate firm for deceptive and unfair business practices targeting homeowners. The lawsuits allege the firm misleads and confuses homeowners through its "Homeowner Benefit Program."

As reported in the complaints, under the program, the homeowner receives a small cash payment between $300 and $5,000 as a "loan alternative" from the real estate firm. In exchange, the homeowner signs a contract that requires the homeowner to use the real estate firm as their exclusive listing broker for their home for the next 40 YEARS. 

In short, that means if the homeowner decides to sell their house sometime in the future, the firm is entitled to list the home for a 3% commission, which is separate and apart from the commission earned by a cooperating buyer's agent. If the homeowner breaks the agreement early, the contract obligates the homeowner to pay the firm up to 6% of the appraised value of the home. 

The agreement, once signed by the homeowner, is memorialized by recording a memorandum against the property to serve as public notice of the homeowner's obligations to the firm. The memorandum creates a cloud on the title to the subject property that must be eliminated during a refinance or sale, which undermines the homeowner's property rights and limits the homeowner's ability to refinance or otherwise access home equity. 

The title insurance industry, through the American Land Title Association (ALTA), supports efforts to protect consumers by...

To continue reading this article, click the link below:

https://fraudinsights.fnf.com/vol18iss06/article2.htm