Should I

I always point out title mistakes, based on the idea that if I don't, someone is going to blame me farther down the line. I dont care if who I complains to even listens, I just want an email with a read receipt saying I sent it to someone, and it is not my problem.

yup, I was taught that as business 101
keep your client informed of all corespondence with title company, public agencies, etc.
find any needed correction, point it out and request an updated title report (cc:client)
print hard copies and send them in the mail
follow all phone conversations with a confirming note

there is lots of clerk work in ALTAs

So far I have let my surveys point out the discrepancies with notes and schedule b-11 responses. But after 6 ALTA'S all of which the title commitment has errors or is questionable in regards to completeness, I think I should inform my client.

How about informing the national title insurance company that is providing coverage based on a local title companies commitment and research?

I suspect that no one cares about the shoddy commitment because they are using the surveyor for qa/qc and every mistake you point out on the face of the survey is being corrected in the actual policy.

I'm working on one now for three lots in a recently recorded business park. Of the 38 exceptions half of them are for a sort of similar named townhouse homeowners association half a mile away that came out of the same common parcel fifteen years ago. I'm convinced no one with any title experience even looked at them before listening them. Especially "third amendment to the architectural guidelines" that addresses children's playsets.

My experience with ALTAs since the financial implosion of 2007 is the title company sees them as one more box to check off to sell their product, the owner sees them as one more requirement to build or finance their projects, and the only parties that actually care about the survey quality ar the surveyor sealing it and the lenders counsel. When I've had problems with commitments I've usually relayed them to the lenders attorney and they beat the title company up for me. The people with the money (and the risk) are the people driving the show.

Much title work has moved overseas. Many familiar faces I saw in the courthouse 5 to 25 years ago are no longer to be seen, those remaining are mainly for local attorneys only.

Paul in PA

Ron Lang, post: 439130, member: 6445 wrote: inform my client of the shoddy title work I am expected to certify these ALTA'S too?

Lately I have noticed that the title reports I receive are lacking the basics and riddled with typographical and blatant errors.

For instance yesterday's the title legal described the property as situated in the County of f9, VA.

The day before the title excepted an easement granted to the County of Chesapeake, that was actually granted to the County of Chesterfield.

Today's title did not include, mention, reference or take exception to the plat of record of the parcel or any of the easements shown on that plat.

Not to mention I have had to request the vesting deed for each site.

I hope the insurance is paid up!!!

My last ALTA had a title report that was started about 50 years ago and was missing deeds from the 80s. The important easement was from 60 years ago and about 61 years ago the original developer purchased all the property with rights on an old way that cut through the property.

After i informed the client that I needed more, the title attorney asked me why and what the problems were. I so wish I could have answered truthfully, "title attorneys who don't understand titles".

[USER=60]@Peter Ehlert[/USER]

I are the clerk on many jobs. If I screw the pooch, I fire myself.

Ron Lang, post: 439130, member: 6445 wrote: inform my client of the shoddy title work I am expected to certify these ALTA'S too?

Lately I have noticed that the title reports I receive are lacking the basics and riddled with typographical and blatant errors.

For instance yesterday's the title legal described the property as situated in the County of f9, VA.

The day before the title excepted an easement granted to the County of Chesapeake, that was actually granted to the County of Chesterfield.

Today's title did not include, mention, reference or take exception to the plat of record of the parcel or any of the easements shown on that plat.

Not to mention I have had to request the vesting deed for each site.

I hope the insurance is paid up!!!

I have been experiencing more and more problems with title companies and their work in the last few years. These days, it seems, most are clueless as to what their mission is. What good is it to me to get a copy of the title policy with no vesting deeds of documentation of the exceptions? When this happens, and it does more often than not, I go directly to the client and ask the client to have them send me the missing information as the client is paying them, not me. I also inform the client that not having the information sent to me with the policy documentation may delay the issuance of the survey. Problem solved, 2 birds killed with one stone.

Red pencil the Title Report and send to the the person that sent it to you or to the person that created the report.

Paul in PA, post: 439153, member: 236 wrote: Much title work has moved overseas. Many familiar faces I saw in the courthouse 5 to 25 years ago are no longer to be seen, those remaining are mainly for local attorneys only.

Paul in PA

I frequently deal with one of the largest title insurance companies in the state of NJ and their searches and documentation are generally pretty thorough. The ironic part is that they are based out of Israel with people here in the state to do the search work. The biggest problem I have with them is their reviewing agents who constantly want me to change my descriptions to add or remove wording. One recently insisted that I remove the wording non radial when describing a call along a line. This particular agent had no clue what a radial line was and could not comprehend the meaning when it was explained, yet, she is reviewing surveys. Just a few days ago I had another call me and tell me that my survey was wrong and that the lot lines I platted did not close mathematically. I explained to her that they did in fact close and that there was a blunder on the filed plan and that the plan itself did not close. I explained to her that I spend hours calculating the plan to find the error and that I arrived at my final resolution by a bearing bearing intersect which matched the existing improvements along the line in question close to perfectly. It get's irritating quite often and my CEO is always copied on my email replies. If he is not otherwise engaged I often hear him laughing out loud within a few minutes of me hitting the send button and him reading my responses.

Remarkably, I have had two projects in the last two weeks where former owners of adjacent parcels conveyed, by description, the wrong piece of land. The latest one has neighbors who absolutely hate each other having title to each others house, but not their own.

In both cases the deeds were prepared by lawyers at title companies. Called one two weeks ago and still haven't heard back.

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I always report errors, mistakes and blunders that I find on title reports. I mostly inform the client but not always. These days I find them on about 50% of the reports that cross my desk.
Has anyone received a "thank you" from a title company as a result of one of these interactions? I did once in 1988. Frank Kelly it was; Chicago Title. I could cite the project. Other than that......crickets.