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Verdict range $100,000 - $500,000
ARTICLE ID 8221
$________ Title abstracter negligence - Failure to detect judgment against property owner - Title insurance company forced to pay amount of judgment to mortgage holder.
Delaware
This action involved a claim brought by the plaintiff title insurance
company against the defendant abstract company which provided judgment
searches for the plaintiff. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant
negligently failed to advise of an outstanding judgment against a
property owner, resulting in the plaintiff being forced to pay the
amount of the mortgage insured by the title insurance policy. The
defendant conceded that it missed the judgment in question, but argued
that its liability was limited.
The evidence revealed that the plaintiff had issued a title insurance
policy to a lender which was providing funds for a residential refinance.
The title insurance policy was issued based on several documents,
including a title abstract provided to the plaintiff by the defendant
abstract company. The defendant admitted that the title abstract failed
to list a judgment of approximately $________ against the homeowners
stemming from the homeowners guarantee of several loans.
The plaintiff title insurance company paid $________ to the bank which
had issued the mortgage to the homeowner. The original judgment holder
foreclosed on the homeowners property and the plaintiff assumed the
rights of the mortgage holder. By intervening in the sheriffs sale
of the homeowners property, the plaintiff was able to recover approximately
half of the amount it had paid on the policy. The plaintiff sought
the remainder of the amount paid under the policy along with attorneys
fees incurred in defending the underlying claim brought by the mortgagee.
The defendant pointed to the language which appeared on its search
reports to argue that its liability was limited to $25 per search.
The plaintiff countered that forms sent when the defendant was first
retained for abstract work required that the defendant maintain $________
insurance for each transaction and that the plaintiff did not agree
to limit the defendants liability.
The jury found that the defendants liability was not limited by the
language of its reports and awarded the plaintiff $________. The award
included the remainder of the amount paid by the plaintiff on the
title insurance policy and a portion of the attorneys fees incurred
by the plaintiff. Post-trial motions are pending.
5 ways to win with JVRA
JVRA gives you jurisdiction-specific, year-round insight into the strategies, arguments and tactics that win. Successful attorneys come to the table prepared and use JVRA to:
- Determine if a case is winnable and recovery amounts.
- Determine reasonable demand for a case early on.
- Support a settlement demand by establishing precedent.
- Research trial strategies, tactics and arguments.
- Defeat or support post-trial motions through past case histories.
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