Real Estate Claims & Title Insurance Solutions

Our Real Estate Claims and Title Insurance Solutions Group covers all four corners of Virginia – from Lee County in the West and Accomack County in the East, Frederick County to the North, and Hampton Roads to the South.

Our Group has many decades of experience in real estate law, creditors’ rights, foreclosures, easements, boundary line disputes, defalcations, litigation, and mediation counseling, and the judgment to apply these skills to the best benefit of our clients. Whether they are owners, lenders, title insurers, or title agents, it gives us – and our clients – a leg up on preparation and the power to handle our client’s legal matters precisely.

When representing title insurance companies and their agents, we understand the hurdles they must overcome to be profitable in an increasingly competitive market. Because of our deep roots in Virginia and local communities, we leverage our firm’s diverse practice areas to craft individualized solutions for title claims.

Our Group’s primary objective is to help our clients minimize their risk and maximize their property rights. In fact, we designed a claims resolution system to efficiently and effectively resolve the problems that may arise under a title policy, from an everyday boundary line dispute to a multi-million-dollar defalcation. This allows us to react quickly to resolve minor problems before they become big.

We are intimately familiar with the body of real estate case law surrounding issues that are the subject of many claims. Our team members initiate and take the appropriate action to ensure our clients are protected, including either a Virginia-specific or nationwide interpretation of the insurer’s duties under a policy assessing the merits of a claim and, if needed, filing a lawsuit to protect an underwriter, owner, or lender.

We wrote the Virginia Title Insurance Claims Manual, which has become a statewide “go-to” resource for title insurance companies and their agencies. We are not aware of any other law firm in Virginia that has taken this kind of proactive step. Our time-saving manual enables readers to quickly identify issues arising in the day-to-day business of issuing policies.

And, when Virginia courts issue new opinions, we promptly alert our clients and keep them informed about any issues that may affect their business, rights, and remedies.

We typically represent owners, lenders, title insurance agents, and national title insurance companies and devote our resources to understanding the industry’s needs and concerns, including:

• Defense Counsel for owners and/or lenders
• Defense of Claims Against Underwriters
• Recovery of Losses from Agents
• Analysis of Coverage issues for Underwriters
• Defalcation & Fraud Recovery
• Litigation in State, Federal Courts
• Defense of Mechanics Liens
• In-House Counsel Training
• Subrogation Issues
• Bankruptcy matters involving real estate and construction
• Judicial Settlement Conferences, Mediations and Arbitration
• Counseling and negotiations regarding dispute resolution

• Title Insurance Client Alert – Court of Appeals of Virginia Enforces “Ryder” Easement
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Va. Ct. of Appeals Holds Grant of “Right of Way” Conveys Fee Simple, Not Easement
• Equitable Subrogation in Virginia: The Sequel
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Virginia Court of Appeals Affirms Injunction to Remove Objects from Granted Easement Area
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Court of Appeals of Virginia Holds “Right of Way” Not Expressly Released in a Deed Releasing “Easements” is Still in Effect
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Supreme Court of Virginia Strictly Construed a Restrictive Covenant to Hold That the Plain Meaning of the Term “Modified” Does Not Permit the Addition of a New Restrictive Covenant
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Court of Appeals of Virginia Holds Plaintiff Who Did Not Seek Reimbursement in its Partition Complaint
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Court of Appeals of Virginia Holds Proof of the Physical Location of an Easement is a Necessary Element of an Implied Easement
• Title Insurance Client Alert – New Court of Appeals of Virginia Opinion Regarding Key Requirements To Prove, And Rebut, The Existence Of An Easement By Prescription
• Title Insurance Client Alert – November 2023 – Recent Virginia Court of Appeals Opinion Holds Title Defect Alone is Insufficient to Plead Actual or Constructive Eviction
• Recent Virginia Court of Appeals Opinion Holds Statutes of Limitations Do Not Apply Where Only Equitable Relief is Sought
• Title Insurance Client Alert – June 12, 2023
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Court of Appeals of Virginia Opinion Regarding Meaning of Exclusivity Required for Claims of Adverse Possession
• Virginia Real Estate Case Alert – Closing Funds Wired to Fraudster’s Account Covered by Insurance
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Virginia Circuit Court Opinion Regarding Duties of Servient Tract Owners of an Easement
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Supreme Court of Virginia Holds Restrictive Covenant Unenforceable
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Fourth Circuit Rejects Borrower’s Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim Against Deed of Trust Trustee. Tayal v. Bank of NY Mellon, Case No. 20-1790
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Virginia Circuit Court Issues Recent Opinion on Permissible Parking on an Easement on a Subdivision Road
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Easement Holder Is Necessary and Indispensable Party to Riparian Boundary Suit
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Virginia Circuit Court Issues Recent Opinion on Adverse Possession
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Strict Construction of Instruments of Conveyance for Easements, Wavell v. Lengel
• Title Insurance Client Alert – CFPB’s Plans to Prevent Fall 2021 Foreclosure Tsunami with Mortgage Servicing Changes
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent U.S. District Court of Virginia, Western Division Case Regarding in rem Rights Under a Deed of Trust By a Lender
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Opinion by the Supreme Court of Virginia Affirming Circuit Court Decision on Subordination Agreements, Rule of Partial Subordination, and Related Issues of Lien Priority
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Opinion by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Relating to Lien Stripping Where Real Property is Held as Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Virginia Court Holds that the Two-Year Statute of Limitations for Fraud Applies to Claims of Forgery
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Virginia Federal Court Case Regarding Underwriting Agreement Between Title Insurance Underwriter and Issuing Agent
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Supreme Court of Virginia Clarifies that Property Lines Are Presumed to Run to the Center of a Road When the Deed Describes the Property as Being “Bounded By” a Road
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Fairfax Circuit Court Letter Opinion Relating to Motions Craving Oyer
• Court Clarifies Coverage for Mechanics’ Liens Arising from Failed Construction Projects
• Title Insurance Client Alert – New Statute and Statutory Amendments to Virginia Real Estate Law
• Title Insurance Client Alert – New Favorable Virginia Equitable Subrogation Decision
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Virginia Federal District Court Rejects Equitable Subrogation Claim
• Title Insurance Client Alert – Recent Case: Lis Pendens Filed within 90 days is Avoidable under 11 U.S.C. § 547
• Glossary of Real Estate Terms