Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele welcomed to the podcast special guest John Crowley, New Jersey State Counsel for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. Among other things, John tracks legislative developments and case law affecting the title arena for Stewart Title, acting as liaison between all business units. He is also head of Stewart Title’s CLE programming.
John provided several nuggets of advice for title agents and potential insureds, including:
Involve underwriting counsel early and often, as document review can take time depending on the transaction's complexity.
Include all related files and documents to underwriting counsel and advise as to what the potential issue/concern is.
Be flexible with expectations and open to compromise.
He also identified some of the key challenges for underwriters, and New Jersey specific challenges, including (i) tax sale foreclosure issues, which have been nationally impacted by the Hennepin case and in New Jersey the Roberto case, both of which dictate how tax sale foreclosures are handled; (ii) New Jersey Tidelands issues; (iii) foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings; (iv) complex corporate structures, and the underwriting complexities that may result when foreign entities are involved; and (v) various types of fraud.
John shared some interesting war stories, including attempts by “train pirates” to gum up big development deals by claiming abandoned railroads are not actually abandoned, seeking payoffs to go away.
John is also President of the New Jersey Land Title Association, and explained the role of the New Jersey Title Insurance Rating Bureau, setting rates for title insurance and creating approved forms for transactions. The Association works to protect and advance the multi-billion dollar title industry in New Jersey by monitoring cases and legislation that could impact the industry, working with bill sponsors, lobbyists and county clerks’ offices.
Mike then interviewed Riker Danzig associate Kori Pruett about a recent case in the Southern District of Florida, where two land parcels were fraudulently transferred by three unidentified individuals. In Tek Grubu Gayrimenkul Franchising Pazarlama ic ve dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi v. Coretitle LLC, No. 1:23-cv-21026-LEIBOWITZ/LOUIS, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181682, at *11 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2024), Coretitle served as the agent, and was sued for negligence. In the case, the Court looked closely at procedural posture and admonished both parties for failing to adhere to local rules.
Key takeaways from this case are:
The court emphasized the importance of compliance with local procedural rules, as failure to do so limited the court's ability to assess the facts.
Parties moving for summary judgment bear the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact exists. In this case, both parties failed to meet this standard due to insufficient evidence and unclear legal arguments.
A lack of record evidence and case law to support arguments can result in denial of motions. Properly identifying standards of care and citing relevant law are critical in disputes involving professional duties.
This case underscores the need for practitioners to present clear, comprehensive arguments that incorporate relevant legal standards and factual details to enable effective judicial review.