So, my Google Alerts once again informed me of another lawsuit against some big title insurance underwriters. This lawsuit has been filed on behalf of consumers in Seattle and San Francisco by the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro against Fidelity, First American, Chicago Title, and Old Republic. It seems to me that the title industry is unable to move away from the anti-consumer practices they are accustomed to and actually work for consumers.
According the release at Insurancenewsnet.com
"In each lawsuit the companies are accused of charging consumers duplicate reconveyance fees while the actual reconveyance is done by the consumer's prior lender and charged to consumers in their loan pay-offs. In some cases, the title companies try to justify these charges as "tracking" fees to ensure the reconveyance is complete -- but these "tracking" fees are generally three times higher than the rates available for "reconveyance tracking" services."
In the current downward cycle in the real estate industry you would think that title companies would try to become more consumer friendly but it appears that many are clinging to the old way of milking consumers for as much as they can. This needs to change. As more consumers get more information online they are becoming more educated and savvy. They are finding this information more and more and those who do not change and work with these consumers are going to pay the price. These consumers will begin to shop for title insurance and start making their own choice and taking control of the title process. And it is about time.
