We just finished our annual CPA audit and in the process heard an interesting title insurance claim story.

Yes, we pay to have our books audited annually by an independent CPA.  I wish it was a mandatory audit, but it's not.  I'm not a big government fan, in fact I'm an advocate for limited government - highly bent in the libertarian direction, BUT when a licensed entity has access to millions of dollars of other people's money, I think there ought to be some sort of formal audit standards which

failure to closely guard the escrow account leads to big trouble.......

The indictment alleges that beginning at least as far back as 2004, a substantial shortfall began to develop in an escrow account maintained by Troese Title and Troese/Hughes for the receipt and disbursement of funds in connection with real estate closings carried out by both title companies. This shortfall is alleged to have been partly the result of mistakes made during the closing process

Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett nominated a partner in the Saul Ewing law firm and former lawyer in the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to become the state’s next insurance commissioner.
Michael ConsedineConsedine’s appointment awaits a confirmation hearing by the state Senate.

Read more on IFAWEB.

Wendy finds the darndest things.

Wendy's job is a critical part of our title examination process.  She receives the raw search reports from our abstractors.  She combs documents and notes just to be sure the abstractor didn't miss exceptions in their report.  She plots the metes and bounds description to see if it closes and looks anything like the map provided by the abstractor then she types our legal description.

I review

court rules against banks in pivotal mortgage case

"There is no dispute that the mortgagors of the properties in question had defaulted on their obligations, and that the mortgaged properties were subject to foreclosure. Before commencing such an action, however, the holder of an assigned mortgage needs to take care to ensure that his legal paperwork is in order," Justice Cordy wrote.  Read more in WT.

Okay, here's my lazy, I'm not going to

PA 400 Manufactured Housing Endorsement

Sorry, I'm at home as I write this and so I don't have the ALTA number in front of me.

Has anyone had any claim experience in which this endorsement comes into play?

We issue it all the time for lenders mortgaging a manufactured home or a mobile home which has been permanently attached to the land.

The endorsement doesn't really say much.   It simply includes the manufactured home in the

If the average title search is anywhere near as flawed as the document checks of the robosigners, we're in for some wild court cases.

To make that billion-dollar question even more chilling is the fact that, in many cases, the banks have already sold said homes to new buyers -- new buyers with title insurance of their own. If the average title search is anywhere near as flawed as the document checks of the robosigners, we're in for some wild court cases.

Read more: Hot potato time for title insurers | Bankrate.com http://

Good morning and happy new year!!

We've had a good year and moving into 2011 are hopeful for another.

Much of what was good during 2010 I think is the result of the 2010 RESPA rules.  We experienced a tremendous change in the way lenders prepare for closings and also in the quality of consumer disclosure.

Gone are the days of tears and anger when consumers get their final figure of cash needed to close.  In 2010 the most