Real Estate Claims & Title Insurance Solutions

The lawyers in Kaufman & Canoles’ The Real Estate Claims & Title Insurance Solutions Group have extensive experience in real estate law, creditors’ rights, foreclosures, litigation, construction law, along with the judgment to use these skills to the best benefit of our clients, whether they are title insurers or title agents, or uninsured owners or lenders. When representing title insurance companies and their agents, we understand the hurdles they must overcome to be profitable in an increasingly competitive market, and we use our many skills to aid them in overcoming those hurdles. We have an in-depth comprehension of the intricacies of a title insurance policy. Deeply rooted in Virginia and its local communities, we are able to leverage our firm’s diverse practice areas to craft comprehensive solutions for title claims.

Our Real Estate Claims & Title Insurance Solutions Group represents title insurance companies and title agents, as well as uninsured owners and lenders. Title insurance underwriters and their agents face a plethora of challenges in the course of conducting business. A title insurer is called upon to take action quickly when a claim or loss is discovered. We are intimately familiar with the body of real estate case law surrounding issues which are the subject of many claims. We have designed a 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. Our team members initiate the appropriate action to ensure our clients are protected, including 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 either the underwriter or the insured.

We have an expertise in resolving cases of fraud and defalcation of trust funds, a problem that has become increasingly common. In these cases, the underwriters will usually be asked to pay obligations intended to be paid with the stolen funds. Our team members have developed creative solutions to help underwriters stem the loss and recover defalcated assets.

We are the only law firm in Virginia to have written a claims manual, the Virginia Title Insurance Claims Manual, as a “go-to” resource for title insurance companies and their agencies. This manual enables the user to quickly identify issues arising in the day-to-day business of issuing policies. Please contact James L. Windsor, Chairman of the Real Estate Claims & Title Insurance Solutions Group  section, to obtain a copy of the manual.

Our primary objective is to aid our clients in minimizing risk and maximizing profits so that they can devote their attention to issuing insurance rather than engaging in litigation. Our team has developed an aggressive, proactive approach to new claims. We react quickly to resolve a small problem before it can become a big problem.

We devote our resources to understanding the title insurance industry’s needs and concerns in order to better serve our title insurance clients.

• 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