Court Report

In an opinion addressing three cases alleging non-attorney closing agents committed the unauthorized practice of law, the Rhode Island Supreme Court broke down the parts of a real estate closing and identified which are considered the practice of law. Read on for more details.

Delaware homeowners sued, among others, their title insurer, alleging that the company breached its obligation to them under their title policy when it denied coverage of a dispute over an easement. Read on for more details.

After a dispute over lien priority, a bank was forced to sell property for less than its value because of an encumbrance. It sued its title insurer, who defended the lender in the case and appeal, for its loss. Read on for details.

A buyer of property online sued after it took nearly two years to occupy the property, and was awarded a $250,000 verdict by a Tennessee jury. The servicer filed a post-trial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and the trial court granted. The buyer appealed.

The Georgia Supreme Court disbarred a real estate attorney for failing to acquire title insurance for a borrower after collecting the funds to purchase the policy. Read on for more details.

A group of homeowners filed suit against their mortgage company, alleging that branch managers, loan officers and agents accepted illegal kickbacks in exchange for assigning and referring services to a particular title company. Read on for more details.

A couple filed an action against a bank to quiet title to their home after the bank tried to foreclose on its deeds against the former owners of the property. Read on for more details.

An insured couple sued its title insurer, alleging breach of duty to defend when a Native American tribe asserted its treaty right to harvest shellfish from the insureds’ tidelands. The case eventually went before the Supreme Court of Washington, which split in its ruling. Read on for more details.

Buyers of property in Florida sued their title insurer for being charged closing services fees in an all-cash transaction, allegedly in violation of the Florida Bar contract. The title insurer moved to dismiss, but the district court denied the motion on two of the three charges.

In reviewing an appeal of an award in a foreclosure case, the Appellate Court of Connecticut looked to decisions from New York and Ohio state courts over using the foreclosure sale price to determine the actual loss suffered by an insured mortgagee under an insurance policy when that loss resulted from a superior encumbrance. Read on for details of the analysis.