“Since original title agency licensing or last renewal is the business entity or any owner, partner, or director a party to, or been found liable in any lawsuit or arbitration proceeding involving allegations of fraud, misappropriation or conversion of funds, misrepresentation or breach of fiduciary duty?
This question (or a variation of it) is common on license renewal forms. And many agencies answer it incorrectly.
Do you pay attention to each step of the process, or to you simply have an admin jump online and check off “No” as the answer to all the questions?
If you simply check off “No” when the answer is actually “Yes,” you are opening your title agency up to some serious issues. Perhaps you simply made a mistake, thinking that failing an audit of an escrow account by a state department of insurance isn’t a breach of fiduciary duty. But it might be construed as such. If you failed to disclose a proceeding, you are liable to be fined and might even forfeit your license.
Consider the worst-case scenario: you are caught by the state department for answering a question incorrectly. Not only must you deal with the immediate repercussions of your incorrect answer, but you must also now self-report to multiple states, an act which will in turn result in a second, more intense round of fines and investigations.
The title agency licensing renewal process is a tricky business. To do it properly takes a great deal of care and consideration. It’s so much easier to brush the process off and give approximate information, hoping everything will pan out for the best. Unfortunately, if your agency makes a false move, it leaves itself vulnerable to some extremely onerous consequences.
Do you spend a great deal of time and effort making sure you deal with your license renewals properly each year, or do you fill out the forms hastily and hope it all works out for the best?
There is a third option. You could let the title agency licensing experts at S2T handle the process for you. S2T has literally written the book on title agency licensing, and we have ongoing contracts with agencies across the country that help them remain compliant on their licenses.