The American Title Insurance Industry

How a Cartel Fleeces the American Consumer

Business & Finance, Industries & Professions, Insurance
Cover of the book The American Title Insurance Industry by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton, NYU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton ISBN: 9780814722466
Publisher: NYU Press Publication: August 1, 2007
Imprint: NYU Press Language: English
Author: Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
ISBN: 9780814722466
Publisher: NYU Press
Publication: August 1, 2007
Imprint: NYU Press
Language: English

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 industry’s 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 industry’s flaws run deeper than mere obsolescence: in most states, title insurers are allowed to engage in anticompetitive business practices, including price-fixing. Among the 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 industry’s 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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

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 industry’s 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 industry’s flaws run deeper than mere obsolescence: in most states, title insurers are allowed to engage in anticompetitive business practices, including price-fixing. Among the 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 industry’s 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.

More books from NYU Press

Cover of the book Discrimination by Default by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Suffer the Little Children by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book American Cool by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Hare Krishna Transformed by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Tinker Belles and Evil Queens by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Self and Other by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book The Tie That Binds by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Women of the Street by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book The Left at War by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Contraceptive Risk by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Walking Where Jesus Walked by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book The Prostitution of Sexuality by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book The Law as it Could Be by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book In Darfur by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
Cover of the book Virtue by Joseph W Eaton, David Eaton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy