The deputy commissioner of the Colorado Insurance Division,whose investigations sparked a multistate title insurance kickbackprobe, has accepted a new post as director of the parent agency'sreal estate division.

The appointment of Erin Toll, 45, came a day after it wasannounced that LandAmerica, one of the title companies she wasinvestigating, would pay more than $102,000 to settle statecharges.

The agreement was reached after Colorado authorities alleged thecompany had paid illegal kickbacks to homebuilders for theirexclusive business. In addition to fines and restitution, thecompany agreed to cease the business practices in dispute.

LandAmerica's settlement followed tense negotiations duringwhich the company at one point demanded that Ms. Toll removeherself from the talks, charging she had a conflict of interest,which they did not specify. But the department found no basis forsuch claims and declined to remove Ms. Toll from the case.

The House Financial Services Committee suggested in a May 24letter that the company was using indirect threats or pressure toinfluence a settlement.

Geoffrey Heir, a spokesman for the Colorado Department ofRegulatory Agencies, said today Ms. Toll's move to her new post wasunrelated to the allegations by LandAmerica and the settlement.

Ms. Toll testified in April on title insurance kickback issuesbefore the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of theColorado Department.

"This is a promotion," Mr. Heir said. "The former director leftthe [real estate] department some time ago, and we had been doing asearch."

Ms. Toll was one of several candidates, he said, and the hiringwas through "an open and competitive process." Ms. Toll, he noted,had applied for the job. Mr. Heir said she was chosen over threeother candidates, commenting, "Her experience will definitely be anasset to her in her new position."

The post carries a salary range of $72,000 to $102,000. Mr. Heirwould not reveal Ms. Toll's current salary.

The new appointment for Ms. Toll, who also heads the NAIC TaskForce on Title Insurance, was announced by Tambor Williams,executive director of the Colorado Department of RegulatoryAgencies.

The Division of Real Estate she will head is responsible for theoversight of 45,000 licensed real estate brokers and 5,500 licensedreal estate appraisers. It will begin registering mortgage brokersin October of this year. Ms. Toll will oversee an annual budget ofapproximately $3.3 million and a staff of 35.

"Erin has been an asset to the Division of Insurance and will besorely missed," said Insurance Commissioner David Rivera. "She hasserved the citizens of Colorado well at Insurance and willundoubtedly continue to do so as director of the Division of RealEstate."

Ms. Toll, according to her testimony before the House FinancialServices Committee, began investigating nine Colorado titleinsurers in the fall of 2004 for alleged kickback schemes thatresulted in overcharges to consumers for title insuranceservices.

Her probe prompted a number of other states to launch similarprobes, including New York, Florida, Washington, Hawaii,California, Oklahoma and Minnesota.