To Whom It May Concern:

I am a consumer and potential purchaser of Colorado title insurance and closing settlement services when I sell, buy or refinance my home. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of my concerns about your respective industries when it comes to marketing, educating and guiding consumers like myself, about title insurance and my real estate transaction. It also appears that I and many consumers have a false perception and belief that your respective industries are looking out for our best interests when it comes to the subject of title insurance.

I recently became aware of the following facts that were quite shocking to me and would probably be to most consumers:

• Colorado licensed real estate brokers, mortgage loan originators and bankers have no legal duty to shop and compare title insurance and closing settlement services and costs for their clients.
• It’s the consumer’s responsibility to shop and compare title insurance and closing settlement services and costs.
• Most title companies primarily market their services to real estate brokers, mortgage loan originators and bankers, not to the consumer.
• Colorado licensed title companies handled over $45 billion dollars of the consumer’s monies in 2010 for their real estate transactions and are not required by law to have any form of business insurance (i.e., fidelity, crime, and errors and omissions insurances) to protect the consumer’s money and safeguard their real estate transaction.
• Title insurance and closing settlement costs can vary substantially among title companies, from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, even though they are regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance.
• Title companies, upon request, will issue at no cost a “Closing Protection Letter “to lenders that provides them additional assurances and protections. However title companies do not offer or promote to consumers the availability of a similar “Closing Protection Letter” for their protection.
• The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report in early 2007 titled “Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of the Title Industry and Better Protect Consumers” recommending the need for consumers to have the ability to comparison shop for title insurance services.
• The Land Title Association of Colorado adopted the "Principles of Fair Conduct," in late 2007 that encourages member title companies to provide consumers with timely and comprehensive information and prices to enable consumers to shop among providers of title-related services

I was made aware of these facts by myTitleIns.com, a free title insurance resource that provides essential marketing information from title companies directly to consumers like me. Based on the information provided to me by myTitleins.com, I must question who is looking out for my best interests when it comes to my title insurance needs and my real estate transaction. Although four years have passed since the title industry adopted their “Principles of Fair Conduct”, I haven’t seen your industry actively reaching out and educating consumers of their responsibility and how to shop and select title insurance services.

I understand myTitleIns.com was created to assist and educate consumers of their responsibility to shop and compare title insurance services and costs. More importantly, myTitleIns.com’s “Consumer Protection Rating” feature gives consumers the ability to compare the various consumer protections that are provided and offered by title companies.

As a potential consumer of title insurance services, I must inform your industry that in the future I will seek to conduct business with those title companies that will provide me with the essential information I need to comparison shop your industries’ service in a timely and efficient manner. As the paying consumer of your services and learning of my unknown responsibility, I strongly recommend that the title industry start marketing its value and services directly to consumers by utilizing the simple one-stop shopping resources of myTitleIns.com.

Additionally, it’s unacceptable that real estate brokers, mortgage loan originators and bankers, can’t do a better job of educating and guiding their clients to a resource like myTitleIns.com that actually assists and helps protect consumers and their real estate transaction. The need for more education by your respective associations to its membership is clear, so they can better serve consumers.

Finally, it’s apparent the current statutory and regulatory environments are quite lax in allowing title companies to handle such large amounts of the consumer’s money, with little or no required consumer protections. Consumers must be better protected.

The following associations and regulatory agencies will be notified of your concerns regarding title insurance:

Land Title Association of Colorado   
P.O. Box 102618     
Denver, CO 80250    

Colorado Association of Realtors
309 Inverness Way South
Englewood, CO 80112

Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association    
4380 S. Syracuse, Suite 315      
Denver, CO 80237

Colorado Bankers Association
One Sherman Place
140 East 19th Avenue, Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80203 

Colorado Division of Insurance - Consumer Complaint Dept.   
1560 Broadway Suite 850
Denver, Colorado 80202

Colorado Real Estate Commission
1560 Broadway, Suite 925
Denver, CO 80202

Sponsor

Links