New rules limit information to Realtors
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Title companies have long provided information of public record to Realtors and homeowners at no charge. No more, according to this update from the California Association of Realtors.
My concern: without easy access to this information at the time of listing a property, buyers and sellers will find more errors and surprises after a price is negotiated.
A Preliminary Title Report will still be generated during escrow, at a cost. Now there may be a cost for the information generated prior to an escrow.
Effective immediately, title companies may be eliminating much of the information they provide on property profiles. The California Department of Insurance recently issued a letter taking the position that title companies may only give the following information on property profiles:
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Names of owners of record of a specified real property;
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Description of real property; and
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Property characteristics as defined under section 408.3 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, which means year of construction of improvements, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, number of units, acreage, and other attributes or amenities (such as swimming pools, views, zoning classification or restrictions, and use code designations).
REALTORS® will likely encounter a title company’s refusal to provide free of charge any other information, such as recorded documents, sales comps, tax bills, or demographics. This type of information is still available through other sources, such as county recorder’s offices, tax assessor’s offices, and governmental and public record websites and private services for a fee.
Clients may also have their own copies of some of the documents.
