Buchalter is one of the nation’s leading law firms for both title insurance and escrow/settlement matters in commercial and residential real estate transactions and mortgage lending. Our team includes leading authors of treatises and articles on title insurance and escrow matters, attorneys who have been in-house title insurance company legal executives, nationally recognized title and escrow litigation specialists, and a renowned Real Estate Practice Group. Our full range of advice runs from front-end transaction issues, such as obtaining title insurance coverage and endorsements, to post-transaction title insurance and escrow claims and litigation.
Title/Escrow in Commercial and Residential Real Estate Transactions
Our attorneys can guide you through the full scope of title and escrow/settlement issues as a real estate transaction is negotiated:
- Advising on the mechanics of title insurance policy coverage and escrow functions
- Understanding preliminary title reports and advising on elimination of exceptions
- Obtaining the necessary title products, including appropriate title insurance policies and closing protection letters
- Working with title agents
- Best practices with escrow/closing companies
- Addressing title issues and impediments pre-transaction
- Analyzing and recommending appropriate title endorsements
- Drafting comprehensive buyers’, sellers’ and lenders’ title and escrow instructions
Post-Closing Issues
Hidden issues sometimes remain post-closing, and new issues are discovered in post-closing reviews. We can provide counsel on all such post-closing matters:
- Resolving disputes where money is in escrow
- Clearance of remaining or new title issues
- Obtaining late documents from title agent and escrow/settlement agent
Title and Escrow Claims and Litigation
Buchalter is one of the nation’s leading title insurance and escrow claims and litigation law firms.
When disputes about title insurance or escrow activities arise, we can advise on the full range of issues, including:
- Escrow and title instruction indemnity demands
- Tender of escrow and title claims
- Scope of insurance coverage
- Monitoring insurance retained counsel that the insurer pays for to defend the insured pursuant to a successful tender of claim
We also handle title and escrow insurance litigation, involving very large transactions and amounts and smaller matters, including:
- Breach of insurance contract
- Bad faith/breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
- Breach of closing protection letters
- Unfair business practices
- Breach of escrow instructions
- Negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud by escrow agent fiduciaries
Bankruptcy
If parties to a title or escrow claim or policy dispute become insolvent, our highly respected and well-known insolvency practices can handle all bankruptcy matters, including:
- Enforcing and protecting secured claims in Chapter 7, 11 and 13 proceedings, including lifting automatic or other stay motions and defending against lien avoidance motions
- Prosecuting and defending adversary proceedings
- Opposing preference actions
- Real estate bankruptcies
- Workouts & restructuring
- Intellectual property
