The Anatomy of a Title Claim

By Monica K. Gilroy

Uh-oh. Your title underwriter just emailed to say that a title claim has been filed against your company. You feel ill. But wait, “is there a DOCTOR in the house?” Yes! There is a Juris Doctorate in the house to share her decades of experience handling title claims with you.    

At the 2019 ALTA ONE, we’ll be discussing how to address, handle and triage a title claim from first notice of a claim to a trial.

The first reaction to a title claim is often panic. There are many remedies to cure those initial pains, such as document gathering and open communications with clients, underwriters and staff. We will discuss the things TO DO and NOT TO DO when a title claim is presented.

The number one reason why we get sick is because of unhealthy habits, like not washing our hands. Diagnosing the unhealthy habits of a title practice that lead to title claims is a way to cleanse yourself of future ills. Are you enforcing best practices in terms of obtaining releases of prior deeds and encumbrances, are you ensuring that fraud does not occur in a transaction, are you training your staff to be on the lookout for toxic issues within a closing? Staying healthy in your practice will be easy as we look at the causes for the common claims and how to prevent them. 

If the worse occurs and litigation is necessary, keep your commonsense temperature in check. We will talk about what happens in title claim litigation and discus the steps of the litigation process including mediation.

You will return home to share your new-found healthy title habits. You will be able to face the pain of a title claim head on, without the need for anything more than an aspirin at the end of the day. No more need for Marcus Welby, Dr. McDreamy or George Clooney in your life -well wait, maybe we will keep George Clooney just in case!

Monica K. Gilroy of Gilroy Law Firm LLC will address this topic during the education session titled “Anatomy of a Title Claim” at ALTA ONE in Austin, Texas. Click here to register.