Embroiled Register of Deeds to Sell Title Insurance?

In a story that just won’t go away, the Wayne County, Michigan, Register of Deeds, Bernard Youngblood--whose office is facing a federal lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages and a receiver appointed to replace him--tells Paul Egan of The Detroit News that his office now has plans to compete with the same companies who are suing his ofice by selling its own title insurance. From this morning's The Detroit News:

"Youngblood said Thursday he would announce plans for a fast-track feasibility study of the county offering title insurance. ... Title companies doing business in Wayne County claim poor record keeping by the register of deeds has forced them to insure transactions without knowing whether mortgages or other liens have recently been filed against the property being sold. They complain of a gap of up to six months between when a document is filed at the county office and when it is available to someone searching land records on a computer. ... Youngblood said his plan to offer title insurance is not related to the recent lawsuit but to concerns over what he said are excessive profits by title insurers and national reports of kickbacks and other industry problems."

Youngblood also tells The Detroit News that the backlog of paperwork in his office is more like six weeks, not six months as the lawsuit claims, and that the very same title companies who are suing his office often wait an unreasonable amount of time before sending mortgages to his office, which he says plays a significant role in real estate fraud.

It's a bold and somewhat unprecedented move (a municipality selling title insurance under these circumstances). It'll be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens.