Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Title insurance is slow to settle

Title Insurance companies will not act quickly regardless of what you do. If you have not filed suit as of yet, I would do so.

Re: Title insurance is slow to settle

What is the defect? Has the insurance company committed to covering the problem, or are they still assessing whether or not there is coverage for the "defect"? The delay may suggest the insurance company will ultimately deny coveage, which may (or may not) be appropriate. It depends on the specifics involved.

Re: Title insurance is slow to settle

The obligation of the title company is geenrally limited to paying to correct the defect so that you will have 'marketable title' meaning that your property can be sold and a buyer can purchase it with either good or insured title. As long as your property's title is marketable, there would be a difficulty in demonstrating a financial loss from the purported defect. The nature of the purported defect will determine whetehr the defect can be corrected or needs to be insured (for example: is there an undischarged mortgage from a savings and loan that went out of business in the early 1990's? or is it a matter of the description of the property being different than the actual land?).