Newspaper Articles on Reinsurance Issue -- December 15, 2005

• Rate cut sought for California title insurance
  Insurance official says consumers are being overcharged
  December 15, 2005
  -- CA releases report that is a comprehensive look at title insurance rates in California. Commissioned by State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, it finds that lack of competition in a dysfunctional market causes consumers to pay far too much for title insurance.
  -- An Analysis of Competition in the California Title Insurance and Escrow Industry [pdf]

• Garamendi announces $22.7M settlement with title insurers
  Sacramento Business Journal
  October 31, 2005
  -- The state's insurance commissioner said Wednesday he has reached a $22.7 million settlement with two of the nation's largest title insurers over alleged illegal rebate activities.
  
  
• Title insurance firm to pay holders in kickback case
  The Arizona Republic
  September 7, 2005
  -- Nearly 4,000 Arizonans who bought title insurance from Fidelity National Title Insurance Group and its affiliates in the past four years will share $644,152 in refunds as part of a kickback settlement reached with the state.
  
  
• Colo. consumers to get refund in title insurance case 
  Denver Post
  September 8, 2005
  -- Nearly 4,000 Colorado consumers will receive partial premium refunds totaling $320,000 as part of a nationwide settlement between Colorado and a Jacksonville, Fla., company over alleged title-insurance kickbacks. Fidelity Financial Co. has agreed to pay up to $2.
  
  
• California Title Insurer to Pay $1 Million to Settle Illegal Rebating Probe
  BestWire
  August 26, 2005
  -- Investors Title Co.has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it engaged in business steering and illegal rebating activities.
  
  
• HUD asked to help fight title scheme
  San Francisco Chronicle
  July 31, 2005
  -- When state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced recently that three title insurance companies had agreed to quit paying what he called bribes to get referrals from builders, lenders and real estate brokers, he posed a question to the housing industry.
  
  
• California regulator settles with title insurers
  Reuters via Yahoo Business
  July 20, 2005
  -- California's insurance regulator on Wednesday said he has negotiated multimillion dollar settlements with title insurance companies that he accused of paying more than $25 million of kickbacks to builders, lenders, and realtors
  
  
• Title insurers may settle with California regulator
  Investor.com
  July 20, 2005
  -- Fidelity National and other leading U.S. title insurers may settle investigations by California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on Wednesday over alleged kickback schemes.
  
  
• State expands title insurance probe
  Denver Business Journal
  July 15, 2005
  -- The Colorado Division of Insurance is expanding its probe of kickbacks in the state's title industry by sending out 600 interrogatory letters concerning the relationships Colorado title agencies have with other real estate service companies.
  
  
• Probe of real estate partnerships charges ahead
  Inman News
  June 30, 2005
  -- An investigation of partnerships among Colorado real estate service providers, known as affiliated business arrangements, is going into high gear next week, as officials plan to probe 50 title insurance companies owned by about 10 individuals.
  
  
• Title company to pay penalty for alleged kickbacks 
  Denver Post - 
  June 30, 2005
  -- A Broomfield title company agreed Wednesday to pay a $10,000 penalty to settle claims that it gave real estate agents kickbacks in exchange for business. Horizons Title, which does business under the name American Liberty Title, is affiliated with at least two Re/Max International Inc. offices. The company did not admit wrongdoing.
  
  
• Title firm's lures probed
  Denver Post
  May 26, 2005
  -- A Broomfield title company affiliated with at least two local Re/Max offices is accused of overcharging consumers so it can afford to give real-estate agents kickbacks in exchange for business. The Colorado Department of Insurance and the Colorado Real Estate Commission on Wednesday launched investigations into the title company's business practices and its relationship with Re/Max.
  
  
• LandAmerica settling lawsuits
  Richmond Times-Dispatch
  May 23, 2005
  -- LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. said Monday that two of its units have agreed to pay $10.3 million to settle two consolidated class-action lawsuits alleging illegal fee practices.
  
  
• Title insurance industry in hot water with regulators again
  BizJournals
  May 22, 2005
  -- Federal law enforcement agencies and insurance regulators from virtually every state in the nation are investigating the title insurance industry largely for kickbacks -- illegal monetary inducements or payments for referrals.
  

• Title insurance in cross hairs - California firm targeted
  Toledo Blade, OH
  May 8, 2005
  -- First American Corp. has agreed to do something unusual with a portion of the premiums it collected from home buyers for real estate title insurance: give it back.
  
  
• Arizona investigates five largest title companies
  Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News
  May 1, 2005
  -- The Arizona Department of Insurance is investigating the state's five largest title companies after a California company agreed to refund millions to new home buyers.
  
  
• California title insurance anti-kickback bill passes committee
  Inman News
  May 1, 2005
  -- A California bill targeting illegal rebates in title insurance has passed committee, clearing its first legislative hurdle, the state's insurance commissioner reported Thursday.
  
  
• Title firms are investigated in kickback case
  Arizona Daily Star, Tucson AZ
  April 30, 2005
  -- The Arizona Department of Insurance is investigating the state's five largest title companies after a California company agreed to refund millions to new home buyers
  
  
• Title insurer to repay Colo. homebuyers for kickbacks
  Denver Post, CO 
  April 29, 2005
  -- The nation's largest title insurance company plans to refund 2,080 Colorado homeowners a total of $103,000 as part of a multimillion-dollar national settlement ...
  
  
• 15,000 home buyers to share $4.6M refund fine
  The Tucson Citizen -
  April 28, 2005
  -- First American Title Insurance Co., accused in a national kickback scheme, will start mailing checks.
  
  
• Stewart Title Agrees to Settle Allegations of Illegal Payments
  The San Diego Union-Tribune
  April 21, 2005
  -- In the latest incident in a wide-ranging crackdown by the state on title insurance companies in California, San Diego's Stewart Title of California yesterday agreed to pay $750,000 to settle charges that it made illegal payments to real estate agents to promote its business.
  
  
• Senate bill would limit "affiliated" enterprises
  Denver Post
  April 20, 2005
  -- Consumers should have more options in purchasing services when they buy and sell their homes, says a state senator who's written a bill limiting "affiliated business arrangements."
  
  
• Colorado insurance commissioner confirms new title probe
  Inman News
  April 19, 2005
  -- A Colorado title insurance company is under investigation by the Division of Insurance, the state's insurance commissioner confirmed.
  
  
• State investigating Alta Vista title firm
  Rocky Mountain News
  April 14, 2005
  -- The state has launched a probe of Denver-based Alta Vista Title for allegedly improperly taking nearly $1 million in escrow accounts from people buying homes, the Rocky Mountain News has learned.
  
  
• A chance to build trust
  North County Times, San Diego and Riverside Counties
  April 11, 2005
  -- Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi is doing California's real estate industry a big favor with his expanding investigation into whether title insurers are giving illegal kickbacks to builders and real estate agents. Trust is an essential ingredient of any relationship, personal or commercial.
  
  
• Will practices change for real estate pros?
  Witcha Busines Journals
  April 8, 2005
  -- The federal government's stepped-up scrutiny of real estate transactions has many in the industry afraid some common practices could be deemed illegal.
  
  
• Bill allows state some control of title loan industry
  Knoxville News Sentinet By Associated Press (free registration required)
  April 7, 2005
  -- Tennessee's unregulated title loan industry would be subject to some state oversight in a bill that a Senate committee approved but a senator studying predatory lending described as weak.
  
  
• Possible Overcharges by Title Insurers to Be Probed
  Los Angeles Times (free registration required)
  April 5, 2005
  -- State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on Monday widened his investigation of the title insurance industry to include whether companies were overcharging for policies. During a daylong hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Garamendi grilled top title...
  
  
• Jacksonville title insurance company accused of kickbacks
  Kansas City Star (free registration required)
  April 5, 2005
  -- Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi during a hearing Monday grilled title insurance industry executives who argued that the practice, called "captive reinsurance," was designed to have both title insurers and their partners share payments of future claims.
  
  
• California official accuses title insurance firms of kickbacks
  San Jose Mercury News (free registration required)
  April 5, 2005
  -- State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi accused title insurance companies of taking part in kickback schemes in which they split premiums with home builders, real estate brokers and other partners for steering business their way.
  
  
• Insurance hearing initiates Round 1
  Contra Costa Times (free registration required)
  April 5, 2005
  -- The tempest over allegations that some large title insurers paid illegal kickbacks percolated through an all-day hearing during which company executives denied any wrongdoing and sparred with the state's top regulator, who threatened to expand his investigation of the multibillion-dollar industry.
  
  
• 2 title firms questioned
  The Arizona Republic
  April 5, 2005
  -- Two prominent insurance companies with ties to Arizona came under scrutiny here Monday as California became the latest state to crack down on title reinsurance.
  
  
• LandAmerica says not aware of rebates' illegality
  Reuters
  April 4, 2005
  -- Title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., accused by California of paying kickbacks to builders and mortgage companies, said on Monday it was not aware of laws barring the practice.
  
  
• Fidelity lawsuits signal national industry reform
  Jacksonville Business Journal
  April 3, 2005
  -- Fidelity National Financial Inc. is in an industry that bases business around the unknown and unforeseen, but recent legal developments across the country may leave the title insurance company dealing with an uncertain future business climate.
  
  
• Title probes include state
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  April 3, 2005
  -- Wisconsin is part of a budding nationwide scandal involving suspected kickbacks from title insurance companies to real estate agents, lenders, builders and developers, authorities confirmed Friday.
  
  
• Ten firms to testify on title-insurance kickbacks
  San Francisco Business Times
  April 1, 2005
  -- Executives of title insurance companies, major lenders, builders and real estate firms will appear before Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi Monday at an investigatory hearing in Los Angeles to examine illegal kickbacks in the title insurance industry that are costing consumers millions.
  
  
• Federal Investigators Discover Closing-cost Scams
  By Kenneth R. Harney
  The Day, New London CT
  April 1, 2005
  -- Federal investigators are taking hard looks at real estate closings nationwide and are turning up practices that might disturb you as a home buyer.
  
  
• HUD investigating possible kickbacks
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  March 28, 2005
  -- U.S. housing authorities are investigating title insurance practices in Wisconsin that possibly illegally share fees with real estate agents and lenders, industry professionals said Monday.
  
  
• Government widens residential real estate probes
  Denver Business Journal
  March 28, 2005
  -- State and federal officials are stepping up their scrutiny of packaged services offered by the residential real estate industry in the wake of a national regulatory crackdown on questionable title insurance practices.
  
  
• Vermont’s niche insurance industry caught in growing scandal
  Vermont Guardian
  March 25, 2005
  -- Vermont, considered the onshore captive capital of the United States, is quickly gaining the attention of regulators in at least 15 states because of an emerging scandal involving kickbacks in the title insurance
  
  
• LandAmerica Refutes Inaccurate Statements and Ends Reinsurance Arrangements
  Press Release
  March 25, 2005
  -- LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. has expresesed extreme concerned with statements made by Colorado and California to the press regarding alleged improper conduct ... and its captive reinsurance arrangements.
  
  
• Title scheme far-flung
  Denver Post
  March 24, 2005
  -- A multibillion-dollar Richmond, Va., title-insurance company is at the center of a nationwide kickback scandal that probably affects hundreds of thousands of homebuyers across the country.
  
  
• LandAmerica to end captive reinsurance deals
  Reuters
  Feb 23, 2005
  -- LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.... said on Wednesday it will stop paying realtors, lenders and developers for client referrals that are the focus of two state probes.
  
  
• HUD Announces Settlements In Kickback Scheme Involving Oklahoma Real Estate Agents, Home Builders, And Title Companies
  HUD Press Release
  March 21, 2005
  -- Real estate agents, home builders received payments for steering customers to affiliated title companies
  
  
• Feds' antitrust inquiry targets Ariz. builders, telecom firms
  The Arizona Republic
  Mar. 18, 2005
  -- The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether exclusive agreements between Arizona developers and communications companies such as Cox and Qwest violate antitrust laws.
  
  
• Title firm's rate plan
  Denver Post
  March 17, 2005
  -- Insurance company that did kickbacks mulls mortgage aid First American Title Insurance is hoping to give Colorado homeowners an average 30% discount for refinancing deals.
  
  
• Review of insurers' kickbacks gets boost
  Title industry practices: Regulators take steps to probe the use of payments in exchange for referrals The Salt Lake Tribune
  March 14, 2005
  -- Insurance regulators from across the nation meeting in Salt Lake City this past weekend took the first steps to coordinate a national investigation of title insurance kickbacks and fees.
  
  
• Title insurers to get national review
  Denver Post
  March 13, 2005
  -- Salt Lake City - Insurance regulators from across the nation took the first steps Sunday to coordinate a national investigation of title-insurance kickbacks and fees.
  
  
• Private mortgage insurers may be investigated
  Rocky Mountain News
  March 12, 2005
  -- The next target of the Colorado Insurance Commission could be the private mortgage insurance industry, Insurance Commissioner Doug Dean said on Friday.
  
  
• RE/MAX Responds to Reports Regarding Title Insurance
  RISMEDIA,
  March 11, 2005
  -- RE/MAX International, Inc. has responded to reports that it is included in an investigation by the California Insurance Commission into certain transactions relating to the sale of title insurance. " ... been contacted by First American Title Insurance Company, who recently entered into ...
  
  
• Wells Fargo part of fraud inquiry
  The Des Moines Register
  March 11, 2005
  -- The California insurance commissioner has subpoenaed Wells Fargo Home Mortgage as part of his inquiry into potential fraud among title insurers.
  
  
• Colorado Ready To Sue Big Title Insurer
  National Underwriter, NJ
  March 11, 2005
  -- Colorado will file suit against LandAmerica title insurance company, seeking payments to customers whose premiums were allegedly inflated to cover kickback costs, the state's insurance commissioner said. “They were not willing to settle,” explained Commissioner Doug Dean ...
  
  
• Insurance Inquiry Widens
  Los Angeles Times (subscription)
  March 10, 2005
  -- California Insurance Commissioner John -Garamendi on Wednesday sent subpoenas ... as part of a probe into possible fraud among title insurers. ... company officials also are to appear at a hearing April 4.
  
  
• Garamendi steps up title probes
  Contra Costa Times (free registration required)
  March 10, 2005
  -- Three home builders, a real estate brokerage and two mortgage lenders have received subpoenas in California investigation of title insurance kickbacks and high premiums...
  
  
• Colorado seeks hearing in title insurer kickbacks
  Rocky Mountain News
  March 8, 2005
  -- The Colorado Division of Insurance asked the state attorney general's office Monday to act on its complaint against LandAmerica Financial Group and prosecute the title insurer at a public hearing.
  
  
• Vermont a fertile field for title insurance industry
  Denver Post
  March 07, 2005
  -- Tiny Vermont ... is a key locale in the unfolding scandal over kickbacks in the title insurance industry. The state has surpassed others to become the country's capital for so-called captive insurance companies. It has 530 such firms ...
  
  
• Builders, Title Insurer Say They Didn't Break Law - Companies Deny Reinsurance Scheme Constituted Kickbacks 
  Builder Online
  March 7, 2005
  -- Several home builders and at least one title insurer targeted in a kickback probe by the Colorado Division of Insurance said their actions were perfectly legal, according to documents released by the division Wednesday.
  
  
• Title-insurance scheme under investigation in 2 states
  The Seattle Times
  March 6, 2005
  -- State regulators across the country are conducting a widening investigation into a scheme in which developers and lenders steer title-insurance business to certain companies.
  
  
• Builders, title insurer say they didn't break law
  Rocky Mountain News
  March 3, 2005
  -- Several home builders and at least one title insurer targeted in a kickback probe by the Colorado Division of Insurance said their actions were perfectly legal, according to documents released by the division Wednesday.
  
  
• Kickback case leads to inquiry by Arizona insurance regulators
  KVOA.com, Phoenix
  March 03, 2005
  -- Arizona insurance regulators are launching an inquiry in the wake of a kickback case involving one of the nation's largest title companies.
  
  
• Enforce title-insurance laws
  Denver Post
  March 3, 2005
  -- Homebuyers from Massachusetts to California owe a big thank-you to a persistent pair of public servants in the Colorado Division of Insurance who exposed a kickback scheme that inflated title insurance premiums.
  
  
• Homebuilders named in title fee kickback scheme
  Denver Post
  Mar. 3, 2005
  -- Sixteen homebuilders across the nation guaranteed business to one of the nation's largest title insurance companies in exchange for kickbacks, Colorado insurance regulators revealed Wednesday.
  
  
• No changes foreseen in probe of kickbacks
  Denver Post
  March 01, 2005
  -- The departure of Doug Dean as head of the Colorado Division of Insurance should have no effect on the agency's title-kickback investigation...
  
  
• Florida AG Launches Title Insurance Investigation
  Insurance Journal
  February 28, 2005
  -- A broad investigation into the Florida title insurance industry has been launched by Florida Attorney General Charlie Christ to determine why, although state law mandates that title insurance rates be audited every three years ...
  
  
• Let homebuyer beware
  Denver Post
  February 27, 2005
  -- Last week's title-insurance scandal is a reminder of how little consumers understand the complicated homebuying process and how much they blindly trust that real estate professionals are working in their interest.
  
  
• Title firms facing review
  Palm Beach Post
  February 26, 2005
  -- Following the lead of Colorado and California, Florida officials say they'll investigate kickbacks paid by title insurance companies and agents to real estate agents, lenders and builders.
  
  
• State probes title policies - 19 insurers will be subpoenaed
  Twin Cities Pioneer Press
  February 26, 2005
  -- Minnesota regulators announced Friday they are investigating whether title insurance companies have provided kickbacks to real estate agents, home builders and others.
  
  
• Colo. Insurance Division inundated with inquiries
  Denver Post, CO
  February 24, 2005
  -- Calls are pouring into the Colorado Division of Insurance this week as consumers inquire about potential refunds from a recently uncovered title-insurance scam ...
  
  
• Experts debate probe's impact - Title insurance kickbacks at issue
  Rocky Mountain News
  February 25, 2005
  -- Real estate experts differ on the magnitude of the fallout from an investigation of kickbacks in the title insurance industry that began in Colorado and is quickly becoming a nationwide issue.
  
  
• Title Insurer to End Deals
  Los Angeles Times, CA (free registration required)
  February 24, 2005
  -- LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., a title insurer under investigation in California, said it would cease the reinsurance arrangements that prompted the probe.
  
  
• LandAmerica denies kickback allegation Open this result in new window
  Richmond Times-Dispatch
  -- LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. has made a sharp response to the California insurance commissioner's allegations that it and other large title insurers have been paying what amounts to kickbacks to some businesses that steer customers their way.
  
  
• Garamendi issues subpoenas on title reinsurance
  Business Insurance, Chicago
  February 23, 2005
  -- California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said he is issuing subpoenas to two title insurers as part of a multistate investigation of reinsurance arrangements in the title insurance industry.
  
  
• Title Insurance Companies Probed in Scheme
  The Lakeland Ledger, Florida
  February 23, 2005
  -- State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said he was investigating kickbacks paid by title insurers to developers, lenders and real estate agents who referred home buyers to the insurance companies.