Title Insurance Companies Targeted In Class Action Lawsuits For Miniscule Overcharges In Real Estate Closings

In Kansas City, Kansas, The Kansas City Star reported last month:

• Two Kansas residents who sued Chicago Title for charging $6 more in recording fees than it paid have lost their bid to bring the case as a class action. James A. and Aimee Doll alleged that when they refinanced the mortgage on their house in 2002, Chicago Title, which acted as the settlement agent, charged them recording fees of $45 for the mortgage and release. The company, however, paid only $39 to record the documents, the Dolls contended, and failed to refund the excess charge.

• The couple sought to have the case certified as a class action on behalf of residents of Kansas, 17 other states and the District of Columbia. But in a 29-page decision last [month], U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum ruled that the Dolls’ claims were not typical of all claims in the would-be class — a prerequisite for class-action certification.

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• [The Doll's attorney Kirk] May and his law firm have already filed similar suits against title insurance companies in other jurisdictions. Pending in Jackson County Circuit Court are four such actions — against Chicago Title, Nations Title, Kansas City Title and Old Republic Title. Yet another action against several firms, including Chicago Title, is pending in Texas. Although all the pending suits involve minuscule amounts of money on an individual basis, multiplied by thousands, or even millions, of transactions, the sums at stake are considerable.

• “It’s death by a thousand cuts,” May said. “For the one person, we’re not talking about much. But when you have 5 million, 7 million transactions, it turns into some real money.”

For more, see Lawsuit against title company won’t be a class action (if link expires, try here).

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