The economy seems to be driving an increase in Bad Faith Lawsuits involving Title Insurance Companies, whether they file them or defend them. Whether or not problems inherent in the prosecution of Foreclosure Lawsuits makes title to Foreclosed Properties more difficult to insure, Title Insurance Companies are parties to an increasing number of Bad Faith Lawsuits.
In Lee v. Fidelity National Title Insurance Co., 188 Cal. App. 4th 583, 115 Cal. Rptr. 3d 748 (Cal. 1st DCA Opinion Filed September 16, 2010), review filed, (Cal. October 25, 2010), the First District Court of Appeal reversed a Summary Judgment of no Bad Faith in investigation by a Title Insurance Company. The California Appellate Court held that questions of material fact existed.
In Chicago Title Insurance Co. v. AMZ Insurance Services, Inc., 188 Cal. App. 4th 401, 115 Cal. Rptr. 3d 707 (Cal. 4th DCA, Div. 3 Opinion Filed September 9, 2010), review filed, (Cal. October 20, 2010), a Title Insurance Company sued another Insurance Company as assignee. The Defendant was a Property Insurance Company which the Title Insurance Company sued for alleged Bad Faith and against which the Title Insurance Company received a Jury Verdict and Trial Court Judgment for Bad Faith, which was affirmed on appeal to Division 3 of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Dennis Wall is the Author of the leading book on Insurance Bad Faith, "Litigation and Prevention of Insurance Bad Faith" (Shepard's/McGraw-Hill Second Edition; West Publishing Company 2010 Supplement). "Timely Investigation and Evaluation" in First-Party Cases like those analyzed in this post are addressed in id., ยง 9:6. Mr. Wall has handled many Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Cases and Catastrophe Claims. The author of this post, he will speak on a panel at the American Conference Institute's Bad Faith Litigation Conference in Orlando, Florida on November 30, 2010. The author has also been advised by the American Conference Institute that the ACI is continuing to offer its discount to readers of this Blog: Download ACI Advises Readers of the Insurance Claims and Issues and Insurance Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog are entitled to a discount.
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