INDUSTRY INSIGHT TITLE INSURANCE
SPONSORED CONTENT
Blue Sky Closing Services , Inc .
Serving Allegheny & The Surrounding Counties
Katie Mannarino is the owner of Blue Sky Closing Services , Inc ., a full-service title insurance and settlement company , conveniently located in Bethel Park . It has 10 full-time employees and handles title and closing services for residential and commercial properties in Allegheny and surrounding counties . And sometimes as far as Philadelphia , closing for personal friends and family members because they only trust Katie and her staff , and know their titles will be “ clean .” In this article , Katie brings real-life title nightmares to readers . First , Katie likes to remind everyone that , while an Owners Title Insurance Policy is “ optional ,” it ’ s a one-time premium ( not yearly , like other insurance products ) and the policy protects your homeownership for the entire time you own the house . For some families , that can be upwards of 20 years . While title insurance claims are few and far between , when they happen they are extremely expensive , and usually require legal counsel to settle .
Years ago , Blue Sky closed a residential city transaction between an Estate ( represented by the decedent ’ s daughter ) and a first-time buyer couple . At time of closing , a zero-balance payoff letter was received by the mortgage company . However , months later , the new owners started getting foreclosure notices from the same lender . Turns out the decedent ’ s daughter continued to use the mortgage line of credit after closing . She racked up a $ 20k balance in a few short weeks ( which , in all honesty , could have been much worse ). Without title insurance , the new homeowners would have had to independently sue the former owner ’ s family member to ( hopefully ) retrieve the funds necessary to pay off the loan and satisfy the outstanding debt . However , since they had title insurance , they made a claim on their policy and the suit was covered , immediately , by the title insurance company .
On another case , a three-year tax certificate was received a week before closing and credited the $ 3,500 school tax as having been paid . However , a few short months later , the new homeowner received delinquent tax notices from the tax claim bureau . When Blue Sky called the tax collector to inquire about the claim , the staff admitted that the three-year tax certificate was accurate at the time it was issued but shortly after , the payment check from the former homeowner had bounced . The tax collector told Blue Sky that to recover the loss of $ 3,500 , it would have to sue the school district . Obviously that was an unreasonable and costly solution , so the homeowners made a claim on their title insurance policy and the $ 3,500 tax was paid .
Katie warns all readers that attempts at wire fraud continue to burden her industry . In addition to protecting ownership rights , it ’ s the responsibility of the title company to keep all funds in escrow safe . This means that Blue Sky , and most regulated title companies , have “ positive pay ” features tied to their escrow accounts as well as sophisticated accounting programs to match all checks issued vs . all cleared checks .
Recently , Blue Sky mailed a $ 1,600 check to an insurance company to pay for the first year of a homeowners ’ policy and learned through its positive pay system that the check was stolen out of the U . S . mail and manipulated . Rather than showing $ 1,600 to an insurance company , it was now $ 6,000 to an individual . This attempt was caught , immediately , when the check was presented to a bank for cashing , thwarting the criminal in his tracks .
For more information on how title insurance can protect you and your homeownership , follow Katie Mannarino and Blue Sky Closing Services , Inc . on Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn . Also feel free to call the office anytime for questions , comments or closings .
Jeff Selvoski , EXP Realty
John Fincham , Keller Williams ( bring your kid to work day 2024 )
Homebuyers closing during the eclipse .
2940 South Park Road , Bethel Park , PA 15102 blueskycsi . com • 412.595.7263
Katie McGurk Mannarino is the President of Blue Sky Closing Services , Inc .
She has closed thousands of residential and commercial real estate transactions over 25 years and is a trusted member of the real estate community . Ask your realtor about Blue Sky Closing Services , Inc .
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