Response to Kiplinger…

In an article entitled, “Save at the Settlement Table” by Pat Mertz Esswein that is set to appear in the September 2009 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine it is stated that you should shop around for Title Insurance as, “…as much as 80% of the premium goes to paying commission to a title agent.” I am appalled by the characterization of the Title Premium as up to 80% commission to the title agent. The agent does the entire search, exam and closing process and takes on an ever-growing amount of risk.

Then the author went on to blindly recommend a national title company that markets directly to the consumer however the title rates of the company provided were 50% more than the industry standard refinance rate in my region. I agree that people should shop around, but Title Insurance is quite local... The best rates can and usually are found in your own neighborhood.

This article is ignorant and a complete mischaracterization of what it is we do and what it costs to do it. Unfortunately, we don’t do a very good job of dispelling these falsehoods.