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a[A] work that provides newly detailed history and analysis of
title insurance, a little-studied industry.a
--"Library Journal"
"In this important and fascinating book, the authors expose a
scam that has fleeced Americans of billions of their hard-earned
dollars since World War II. The title insurance industry, they
show, has captured its regulators, and imposed exceedingly high
costs on American homebuyers by means of a cartel-like arrangement.
If that arrangement can be broken, price gouging would end and all
American homeowners would enjoy what Canadians and Iowans
do--reasonably priced peace of mind."
--Robert E. Wright, Stern School of Business, New York
University
After World War II, banks and other mortgage lenders began
requiring insurance to protect them against flawed or defective
real estate titles. Over the past sixty years, the title insurance
industry has grown steadily in size, power, and secrecy: policies
are available for both lenders and property owners and many title
insurers offer an array of other real estate services, such as
escrow and appraisal. Yet details about the industryas operational
procedures remain closely guarded from public exposure.
In The American Title Insurance Industry, Joseph and David Eaton
present evidence that improvements in recordkeeping over the last
sixty years--particularly the advent of computers--have reduced the
likelihood of a defective title going unnoticed in a property
transaction. But the industryas flaws run deeper than mere
obsolescence: in most states, title insurers are allowed to engage
in anticompetitive business practices, including price-fixing.
Amongthe findings in this meticulously researched study are
instances of insurers charging premiums well above the amount
necessary to compensate them for assuming the risk of defect and
identical policies with identical risk that vary in price by
hundreds of percentage points for different geographic
locations.The authors also examine the widely ignored role that the
federal and most state governments play in perpetuating the title
insurance industryas unfair practices. Whereas most private
industries prefer as little government intervention as possible,
title insurers welcome it. Federal statue exempts title insurers
from anti-trust liability, opening the door for price-fixing and
destroying any semblance of free-market competition or market power
for consumers.A landmark study for elected officials, and all those
involved in the insurance, real estate, and brokerage industries,
The American Title Insurance Industry brings to light a
long-neglected problem--and offers suggestions for how it might be
remedied.
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