Title Nerds co-hosts Michael O’Donnell and Bethany Abele talked with special guest Jeffrey Greif, a seasoned real estate title sales professional with 37 years’ experience, most of which has been with First American Title Insurance Company, with which he is a four-time Circle of Excellence award winner.  Jeffrey explained why title insurance is necessary, to confirm that “the property you think you are buying is actually the property you are buying,” giving examples of the various title defects that can be uncovered when conducting title searches, including neighbor disputes, inheritance issues, fraud, and more.  Jeffrey discussed how title insurance has evolved over the years and how technology has fueled new enhancements, along with cautions against relying on attorney opinion letters in lieu of title insurance.  Also, since Bethany described Jeffrey as a “fantastic networker,” he provided valuable and practical networking tips for professionals.

He closed with a fascinating war story from his career, where his team had to research documents from 100 years ago in order to confirm property ownership.

Next, Riker Danzig associate Matthews Florez provided an overview of a recent case decided in the Court of Appeals in Washington State, finding that a title insurance company could deny coverage to a policyholder based on an exception for loss by reason of “matters disclosed by a record of survey” when the recordation information for a boundary line adjustment was disclosed only on the survey.  Matthews and Mike discussed the details of the case, High Definition Homes, LLC v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., No. 58677-1-II, 2024 Wash. App. LEXIS 1601 (Ct. App. Aug. 6, 2024), which makes clear the importance of understanding and exploring what is disclosed in a property survey prior to purchase.