In a previous blog post, we discussed an incident where a title agent was operating with an expired license. Which, on a good day, could be chalked up to negligence—not necessarily a quality you’d want in an agent who is handling critical files pertaining to the sale or purchase of one of your largest assets. But an agent who works in the title industry with a suspended license? That veers straight into shady conduct, since you’d better believe the agent is aware that they are operating illegally.
In one particular incident, a title agent had their license temporarily suspended when they were charged by the Florida State Attorney for Uttering a Forgery, which is a first degree felony. Some time later investigators conducted a follow-up investigation and found that the agent was still doing business in violation of the order…by using another title agent’s license to issue title insurance commitments and policies!
The two agents had agreed that the agent with the suspended license would split the commissions they earned with the other agent in exchange for using their valid license. Needless to say, the suspended agent was quickly put out of business, and their accomplice was put on 1-year probation on top of being fined $5000.
Fortunately, you can avoid running into this sort of scandal by using the Florida Department of Financial Services Licensee Search to search the name of the title agents you want to check on. It will give you the details of the status of their licenses along with other information.
At Title Junction, all of our title agents are professionally licensed and in compliance with title regulations at all times. But you don’t have to take our word for it—search the name of any of our title agents at https://licenseesearch.fldfs.com for your own personal peace of mind.
At Title Junction we care about helping you stay informed throughout your real estate transaction. Have questions? Give us a call at 239.415.6574.
In case you missed it, check out our last Title Junction post: What Is Litigation?