Valuing A Covered Loss Under Title Insurance Policy? Not As Simple As It May Seem

The Alabama Supreme Court recently addressed, without deciding, several somewaht nuanced issues relating to the valuation of a covered loss under a title insurance policy.

The case is probably not of any interest to anyone other than title insurance geeks, although possibly, with all the crappy real estate titles created by fraudulent foreclosures seeping back into the market, homebuyers left holding the bag on recently foreclosed real estate(1) (and their attorneys) may have a bit of interest in the type of hassle they can expect when filing a claim with their title insurer.

For more, see Stewart Title Guaranty Company, v. Shelby Realty Holdings, LLC, No. 1100215 (Ala. October 14, 2011).

(1) See, for example:

• Bay State High Court: Innocent 3rd Party Purchaser At Faulty F'closure Sale Left Holding The Bag; Unwitting Buyer Merely Acquires Mortgage Assignment,
• Lawsuit: 'Set Aside' Of Dubious F'closure Leaves REO-Buying Couple Without Legal Title To Property After Sinking $230K Into Home Bought From Bankster.