Comments on: All That Research and Almost Nothing to Show for It

By: Abigail

Abigail — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:43:41 +0000

See, I'd be frustrated too. But I would also be thinking how glad I was that I saved $280 because at least I came out ahead. If I hadn't done all that research, we'd have been dinged $200 with nothing to offset it.

I'm not usually much of an optimist, so when I bother it's usually important. On this issue, I insist that you actually saved your own behind in this case.

By: Fred Kauber, CIO - ENTITLE DIRECT

Fred Kauber, CIO - ENTITLE DIRECT — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:08:13 +0000

While your frustration is understandable, you should not regret making an effort to become an informed consumer, particularly when it comes to title insurance as it is a common but poorly understood financial product. It is regrettable that your lender is effectively incenting you to not exercise your legal right to shop around for title and closing services by levying that fee, but you are ahead of many consumers in understanding that you have that right to shop around. In regard to title insurance, many consumers simply take the advice of their lawyer or realtor as to which title insurance carrier to use, not realizing that the referrer is making 60-90% of the title insurance policy premium as a commission.

Your research should hopefully have turned up another option to save on title insurance, and that is to buy your policy directly from a title insurance carrier. In Maryland, ENTITLE DIRECT is the only title insurance company that offers title insurance direct to consumers at a 35+% savings, and also offers a transparent, flat fee for settlement services.

By: B

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:51:05 +0000

Having worked for a short time with a real estate attorney, I can't say that I blame your lender (wow, I actually just defended a lender…typically I think they're horrible). If title isn't properly cleared before you take ownership of your property, you can have major issues when you go to sell, or even have a lien taken against you based on work performed before your purchase. Not all title companies are equal — it's in your best interest to ensure that as many eyes are looking out for you as possible.