Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co.

Higgins v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co.; Raffone v. First American Title Ins. Co. (both Nassau Co. Fla.).

On February 7, 2011, a Florida appellate court affirmed orders certifying classes of hundreds of thousands of Floridians in two separate cases brought by Pomerantz Haudek on behalf of purchasers of title insurance in refinancings from First American Title Insurance Company and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. The decision by the State of Florida District Court of Appeal for the First District in Jacksonville can be found at http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2011/02-07-2011/10-2139.pdf (Case Nos. 1D10-2139 and 1D10-2114).

Commonwealth and First American had each appealed orders issued by Judge Brian J. Davis of the Circuit Court, Nassau County, Florida, on March 16 and March 19, 2010.  Our clients, the Plaintiffs in both cases, allege that the title insurers unlawfully overcharged for title insurance premiums on refinance transactions, when Florida law and regulations required them to charge a discounted "reissue rate" premium because there already was an owner’s title insurance policy on the property.  The court held in each case that the question was a common question applicable to the entire class and therefore warranted class determination. The appellate court agreed, holding that whether the duty to determine whether the reissue rate applied fell solely on the title insurer was a common and predominant issue for the classes, resolution of which would not require inquiries into the practices of individual title insurance agents or the circumstances of each refinancing transaction. Therefore, the appellate court held, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the classes.