Blogs

Check out this story on Burj Al Barbas , a ghost town of abandoned fairytale castles. You can also watch a video of what it looks like now and check out the original sales brochure.

June 13, 2021, I celebrate ten years as a Company man. I’ve been a title insurance underwriter for Fidelity National Title Group now a decade. How quickly the time has passed. My two oldest children have graduated high school and one of them just finished college while the other is a sophomore (and together recently bought their first condo… with owner’s and loan title insurance!!). We adopted our two daughters from China during this time, moved twice, and I got another law degree. I even changed roles within FNTG going from Area Agency Underwriting Counsel over to the National Commercial Services side of the business. And now I’m staring down the age of 50 – ...

When I was in private law practice, I would usually end up getting a nice contingency plaintiff’s case every year or two. That was not my primary practice emphasis area, but it made for a very nice payday compared to routine hourly or transactional work. As I shifted more to a real estate practice and founded a title insurance agency, I realized handling a commercial real estate (#CRE) deal had similar characteristics to the contingency case for the payout as well as the frequency (unfortunately). For a title agent that does a great job with residential closings it can be a shock to the system to take on a commercial deal. Just as you might sail through a routine ...

Whether you’re purchasing a new or existing home, or refinancing, title insurance protects you against any problems affecting the title to your home. The Basics There are two types of title insurance: the owner’s policy and the lender’s policy. The owner’s policy protects your property rights as the homebuyer, whereas the lender’s policy insures the financial investment of the bank or lender. If someone else claims ownership of your property, title insurance typically defends you legally and financially. Common Risks Here are some examples of problems with title: Liens against the property that serve as security for the payment of an obligation ...

Innovation in #CRE Title Insurance Underwriting I came across an article written by a fellow industry professional whose job is “Underwriting Innovation Director.” Wow, what a portfolio! My passion in underwriting is to try to think outside the box, take ownership, and act with urgency in a way that respects the risk management objectives of the Company while providing creative solutions for the customer. Why Joe? Isn’t title insurance just a commodity and could basically be underwritten by Artificial Intelligence? Oddly enough, there are some insurers experimenting or outright relying on AI for many residential underwriting decisions. However, in the ...

2021: A Year for New ALTA Forms The American Land Title Association (ALTA) has approved new forms of Commitment, Owner’s Policy, and Loan Policy to be effective July 1, 2021. These have been in discussion for a number of years and represent the first wholesale update in 15 years. I recall giving a talk on the proposed changes about 4 years ago the first time when some of the new Policy wording started to trickle out. Hopefully all of us as commercial real estate, legal, and title insurance industry professionals and our clients and customers will feel the long wait was worth it. If you’re a title nerd this is like Christmas! New Policies – yay! But seriously, ...