A trade organization that represents title insurers, whosepractices have come under scrutiny from state regulators andlawmakers, said they have been meeting with federal officials toclarify any “misunderstanding” about their business.

The American Land Title Association held one session with theGovernment Accounting Office last month and another will be heldshortly, said Lorri Ragan, a spokesperson for ATLA.

In January, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep.Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, asked the GAO to investigate alleged improperpricing and anticompetitive practices in the title insurance.

The congressional inquiry follows probes by state regulators inColorado, California, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan and, late lastmonth, New York into alleged title insurance company kickbackpayments for referrals from developers, mortgage lenders and realestate agents.

Regulators as a result have secured more than $37 million fromtitle insurers to return to customers who may have been hurt bytheir activities.

James R. Maher, ALTA's executive vice president, in a statementreleased earlier, said his group views the meetings with GAO as “anopportunity to educate them about our business.”

“Because of the complexity of our business, and the fact thatrules and regulations vary by state, there has been a lot ofconfusion in the marketplace leading to misinformation andmisunderstanding,” he continued.

“We see this as an opportunity to help clear up the confusionthat exists, and to foster a better understanding about titleinsurance and the value it provides. We will continue to work withthe GAO and look forward to the release of its report.”

Ms. Ragan said that ALTA's meeting last month with GAO dealtwith a series of questions they had sent to the group. She saidafter the session, which was “informal and educational in nature,”GAO had decided to come up with a revised set of questions.

Rep. Oxley, in his letter to GAO, said the referral fees violatethe Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). In the past,ATLA has said that when it asked the U.S. Department of Housing andUrban Renewal (which administers RESPA) to provide guidanceconcerning acceptable practices, they had been “left in thedark.”

Rep. Oxley said in his letter he had a particular concern overtitle fees because “as housing prices have soared in various partsof the country, the cost of title insurance has become anincreasing burden on many consumers.”

His letter asked the GAO to investigate the title insurancemarket to determine what factors impact the price of product,including the associated claims, title search, overhead andmarketing costs.

The letter also asks for an examination of the relationshipbetween title insurers, realtors, lenders and home builders foranticompetitive practices and an investigation of potentialbarriers to entry into the market.