Bulletin: NL000085

Stewart Title Guaranty Company ("Stewart") has received notice that a suit has been filed in Ohio by Civitas Bank, Successor by Merger to Pinnacle Bank, dba Community Mortgage Funding Corp., a Michigan Banking Corp. ("Civitas") against American Mortgage Solutions, Inc. ("AMS"). The suit alleges that AMS "has engaged in various transactions and continues to engage in transactions in which it has received payoffs on Plaintiff's loans, and has failed to remit promptly the proceeds of such payoffs to Plaintiff.1"Stewart has also received a copy of a letter dated April 9, 1999 from the attorneys for Community Mortgage to the President of American Mortgage Services advising that "Community Mortgage is taking over the servicing of the remaining loans in the AMS/Community Mortgage portfolio." (Note: A copy of the referenced documentation is available through the National Legal Department at 800-729-1902.)

Payoff disputes have the potential for policy liability. If your agency handles any closings that involve any of these entities, Stewart recommends that you verify that all payoffs are being remitted to the proper party.

Please forward a copy of this notice to all of your Escrow Officers. If you have any questions concerning this bulletin, or if you have received notice regarding a payoff dispute involving one of these entities on one of your files, please contact Patrick Thesing, Chief Claims Counsel, in the National Legal Department at (800) 729-1900.