Title Insurance Companies' Liability for Failure to Search Title and Disclose Record Title
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Authors
Palomar, Joyce Dickey
Issue Date
1987
Volume
20
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION|In August of 1984, the Nebraska Supreme Court for the first time addressed the issue of whether a title insurance company is liable to its insured for losses caused by record defects in title which were not disclosed by the title insurance company. The court held that a title insurance company has a duty in tort to search the record diligently and to disclose even those defects which the title company has expressly declined to insure in its title insurance policy.|The Nebraska Supreme Court, of course, is not the first to have taken this position. Several jurisdictions previously have held title insurers liable in tort for loss to their insured caused by the title insurance company's failure to discover or disclose defects in title. But the state of the law on the issue is far from settled. Some jurisdictions have declined to impose a tort duty, but have found that an implied contract to search and disclose exists between a title insurer and the insured. Other courts have eschewed both the preceding approaches and have held that a title insurer's only obligation is to indemnify according to the express terms and limits of the policy. Legislatures in a few states have statutorily imposed a duty to conduct a reasonable search on title insurers. Conversely, the state whose judicial decision is most cited for the rule that title insurers have a duty to diligently search and to disclose all record defects has recently lifted that duty from title insurers by statute...
Description
Citation
20 Creighton L. Rev. 455 (1986-1987)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law