Also known as: title companies · title insurer · title insurance company
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A company authorized to conduct the business of insuring titles to real property. The company evaluates title records and issues policies that protect buyers and lenders against defects such as unreleased liens or breaks in the chain of title.
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Tamara Tan contracted to purchase land from Thaddeus Tran. The agreement called for insurable title rather than marketable title. A reputable title company reviewed the records and agreed to issue a policy at standard rates despite an old unreleased lien. Tran tendered the deed at closing and the title company bound coverage, allowing the transaction to proceed.
Tabitha Taylor purchased a lot subject to recorded restrictions. The title company omitted the restrictions from her deed and recorded it before the declaration. Taylor later sought to build in violation of the restrictions. The planning committee enforced the restrictions against her because the title company's recording mistake did not eliminate the servitudes.
Tanya Tang, a shareholder of a title company, sued its directors for investing corporate funds in bonds issued by a federal agency. She claimed the bonds were unlawful. The court permitted the suit to proceed because the shareholder could challenge the legality of the investment even though the directors had approved it.
Tiffany Torres deposited client funds with a title company that participated in an IOLTA program. The company earned interest on the funds and remitted it to a state foundation. Torres later claimed a taking occurred. The court held that the interest belonged to the foundation once the principal was returned intact.
Titan Industries retained a title company to perform due diligence on a real estate acquisition. The title company's audit report contained negligent misstatements. A third-party lender relied on the report and suffered losses. The court limited the title company's liability to parties in privity or known intended beneficiaries.
Taliah Tang sold property to Trailblazer Airlines under a deed that omitted an oral side agreement about access rights. The title company recorded the deed without noting the oral term. Trailblazer later sought to enforce the side agreement. The court admitted the parol evidence because the deed did not integrate all terms of the transaction.
A lawyer is subject to the Rules when law-related services such as title and escrow work are provided by an entity the lawyer controls and the lawyer fails to take reasonable measures to ensure clients understand the services are not legal services and that the client-lawyer relationship does not exist. Shared receptionists, in-house referral language, and the absence of clear disclaimers can cause the protections to apply even when corporate formalities exist.
Supporting sources
…on the property. When Standard-Young had confronted petitioner with this information, he responded by issuing, as an agent of a title insurance company, a title policy guaranteeing clear title to the property. By this action, petitioner also defrauded that insurance company by requiring it to pay the outstanding liens. The investigators,…
…Without IOLTA in place I may not have earned anything but it would have been earned in the sense of earning credits for the title company
…Brushaber v. Union Pacific R. Co., supra , at p. 10. In Smith v. Kansas City Title
…1 attached to the complaint is a printed form of “Uniform Agreement of Sale and Deposit Receipt” commonly available at local title companies
…public report, which stated that the subdivision lots were subject to building restrictions; (2) because of a mistake by the title company
A clause in an operating agreement that withholds accrued profits from a lawyer who represents certain clients after leaving the company is unenforceable. The rule prohibits agreements that restrict a lawyer's right to practice after the relationship ends, except for retirement benefits. Conditioning payment on refraining from zoning or title work directly violates the prohibition.
Supporting sources
A knowing false statement that a title company has issued a clean report showing all liens paid, made to induce a deed transfer, satisfies the elements of obtaining title by false pretenses. The victim must intend to pass title and actually rely on the misrepresentation. Delivery of a deed demonstrates the required transfer of ownership.
Supporting sources
Opening escrow, signing wiring instructions directing proceeds to a secret account, and delivering the documents to the title company qualify as a substantial step when done with intent to steal the funds. The steps need not result in an actual transfer. They must strongly corroborate the criminal purpose under the circumstances the defendant believes exist.
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