Florida Court Certifies Classes in Two Title Insurance Rate Cases

On March 16 and March 19, 2010, a Florida state court judge certified classes of several hundred thousand Floridians in two separate cases brought by the Pomerantz Firm on behalf of purchasers of title insurance from First American Title Insurance Company and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. Raffone v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., 04-78-CA; Higgins v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., 04-365-CA (Fla. 4th Jud. Cir., Nassau Co.) Plaintiffs in both cases allege that the title insurers unlawfully overcharged for title insurance premiums on refinance transactions, when it was required by Florida to charge a discounted "reissue rate" premium because there already was title insurance on the property.  The title insurers argue that state law did not require them to charge the "reissue" rate unless the borrower made it known that an existing title insurance policy was in place. The court did not decide that question in granting the respective motions for class certification, but held in each case that the question was a common question applicable to the entire class and therefore warranted class determination.

Robert J. Axelrod, who is handling the cases for the Firm, commented that "although we expect interlocutory appeals from defendants, we remain confident that we will prevail given the language of the reissue rate code in Florida."



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