How to make claim against a title agent's bond.

 To make a claim against a Maryland title agent's bond with the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA), you'll need to follow a specific process. Title agents in Maryland are required to maintain bonds to protect consumers and ensure they fulfill their obligations. A lawyer can be helpful, but one is not necessary. You can go it alone before making the decision to hire counsel. Here's how you can proceed:

1. Gather Documentation: Collect all relevant documentation related to your claim. This might include contracts, invoices, correspondence, and any evidence that supports your claim.

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3. Contact the Title Agent: Before filing a claim, it's a good idea to reach out to the title agent directly to discuss the issue and see if it can be resolved amicably. Sometimes, misunderstandings or errors can be corrected without the need for a bond claim.

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5. Verify the Bond: Make sure the title agent has a bond with the MIA. You can do this by contacting the Maryland Insurance Administration or checking their website. Ensure that the bond is current and covers the specific circumstances of your claim.

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7. Complete the Claim Form: Visit the Maryland Insurance Administration's website and download the appropriate bond claim form. They may have specific forms for title agent bond claims.

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9. Provide Supporting Documentation: Fill out the claim form accurately and completely. Attach all relevant documentation that supports your claim. This may include contracts, invoices, receipts, emails, or any other evidence.

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11. Submit the Claim: Send the completed claim form and supporting documents to the Maryland Insurance Administration. Make sure you follow the submission instructions provided on their website or in the claim form.

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13. Wait for Processing: The MIA will review your claim and may conduct an investigation. They will communicate with both parties involved in the dispute and gather necessary information.

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15. Resolution: Depending on the outcome of their investigation, the MIA will determine whether the title agent's bond should cover your claim. If approved, the bond will be used to compensate you for your losses.

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17. Appeal (if necessary): If your claim is denied and you believe it was wrongfully rejected, you may have the option to appeal the decision. Check the MIA's guidelines for the appeals process.

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19. Legal Assistance (if needed): If the dispute remains unresolved and you believe you have a strong case, you may want to consider consulting an attorney with expertise in insurance or real estate law for further guidance.

Extend your neighbor a hand, not a bullet.

 Brian Ford was shot by his Florida neighbor while trimming trees along their shared property line. Read the full news article, here. 

This is an extreme example of boundary disputes gone horribly wrong. Our Firm has been, and continues to be involved in neighbor disputes over boundaries and overhanging trees, extended flower and crop beds, and encroaching pools, decks and bow windows. Each and every one a potential flash point for violent confrontation between otherwise law abiding folk.

In one long-ago case, I was walking through a client's wooded lot in one of Maryland's more rural Counties. The purpose of my visit was to eyeball a "logging road" that was in dispute. A neighbor claimed rights to use the logging road for development of multiple subdivided lots. My client believed that the intended logging road was located elsewhere, or had disappeared, as historical facts demonstrated that logging roads move over time, with logging operations. 

It was late afternoon and I was casually crunching through the underbrush in search of a discernible path. I stopped immediately upon hearing the "click" of a shotgun being chambered and cocked behind me. 

"Who the **ck are you?" bellowed my inquisitor.

"I'm the lawyer for the owner of this land...I have permission to be here!" I squeeked (in the most authoritative voice I could muster in that instant).

My heart beat once, then twice, a bird chirped, and then...

"Aw, heck, you're MY lawyer!"

And we had a hearty laugh, a handshake, and a nervous discussion about shooting lawyers out-of-season.

George Washington wrote that personal freedom and property rights are inseparable. The more visceral reaction many like the shooter in the Florida have to any perceived encroachment speaks to how deeply this concept is embedded. Inherent decency and problem solving learned through the social institutions of family, school, church and community should, and often does buffer such an immediate and deadly adverse reaction. As lawyers, we seek to channel such disputes away from violent confrontation to alternate dispute resolution in forums like mediation, arbitration or trial.

It is cheaper to engage a civil litigator than to hire a criminal defense attorney.

Invest in Baltimore, but avoid the wholesaler scam.

 Wholesaling is a general term used to describe several variations on one theme- the purchase and sale of real property with other people's money. Long considered the bottom rung of the real estate ladder, desperate owners surrender their equity to those who quickly sell the contract to another. In this second transaction the wholesaler receives an assignment fee from the buyer. This assignment fee is made possible by the low contract price to the original owner, and represents the owner
's surrender of equity to the flipper.

ABC Capital Baltimore, LLC and its vast family of alphabet-soup related entities have added a thick layer of fraud to this old business model.