Financial Title Co. shuts down in California

Source: San Jose Business Journal

Financial Title Co. has shut its doors across the state as part of a closure of multiple offices and title companies by its parent, Mercury Cos. of Colorado.

The decision by the largest real-estate title agent in Silicon Valley follows a move by Mercury's lenders to pull their line of credit after Mercury failed to meet loan requirements, according to an e-mail from Jim Hilbun, president of United Title of Texas. Unite Title is also owned by Mercury.

"Mercury is closing all of its companies outside of Colorado, which includes Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada," Hilbun told employees.

Examiners representing the California Department of Insurance, which regulates and polices title-policy underwriters and agents, were on hand at all 57 Financial Title offices in the state Wednesday to ensure that escrow funds were properly handled and not stolen or lost, said Darrel Ng, press secretary for the agency.

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/07/28/daily50.html

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This is in an area hit hard by the mortgage crisis.

United Title of Texas has closed all its offices around the state, including six in the Houston area, because of financial troubles related to its Colorado-based parent company.

"This decision was precipitated by an unexpected, and in our opinion, unwarranted and unjustified act by our syndicate of banks, which deprived us of the cash we needed to sustain and to continue those operations," the Colorado company said in a memo to employees today.

United Title is a subsidiary of Mercury Cos., which owns title agencies in California, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.

Mercury stopped funding operations in Arizona and California, as well.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5915443.html

It's cost a lot of jobs and a great number of longstanding businesses have shuttered. A good number of independent mom 'n pop shops as well.