Old Republic Title Company, John --- ripoff, presumed conversion of security deposits by tenant. Lynnwood Washington

I am a tenant for 14 years in a four plex located in Renton, Washington. I paid $181 to a very pleasant and congenial landlord by the name of Ernie in 1995 with the agreed terms that interest would be paid on the security deposit. The landlord sold the building To John in 1998. Both Ernie and John have passed away. Johns family managed the building for a few years and sold the building to some new owners, but the new owners never got their security deposit.

It is unknown if the security deposit was originally forwarded by the escrow agent that handled the sale in 1998. Old Republic Title was the escrow agent and refuses to talk to me. I am the person who the money belongs to and who is entitle to the money when I move out of the building. Below is a list of e-mail correspondance between myself and Old Republic Title. Old Republic Title can not be trusted.


From: "John"
To:


Dear Mr. ----:

Yes, you should go to the County and view the public records to retrieve the information you seek. As I tried to explain in my previous message to you (and I apologize if I was not clear), we are a private company and we can not, and will not, discuss our customer's business with 3rd parties, regardless of the purpose of your inquiry.
John R.
Title Operations Manager
Old Republic Title, LTD
4114 198th Street S.W. #4
Lynnwood, Washington 98036
(425) 776-1970



-----Original Message-----
From:
our message is a bit confusing to me to say the least. I only asked you who financed the building in 1998. Are you trying to hide this from me? I could easily go to the County Clerk Recorders Office and look it up. I doubt it would take me more than 1.5 hours.

The reason that I asked you who financed the property is for the benefit of the current owner. Although I don't have to go the extra mile, the current owner is responsible for my security deposit -- even if it wasn't disclosed through escrow. The current owner alleges that information was withheld from them.
In any event, it doesn't appear that Ticor Title did a very good job of researching things. And it doesn't sound like you are going to do a very ethical job as well. Do you have the records or not?

You should be happy that I am asking these questions. Perhaps it might save the current title company the headache of paying out a claim that is too small to investigate.

Sincerely,
RAY
PS -- Please send me a reply so that I know you received this.

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:52:47 -0700 "John" writes:
Dear Mr. ---,

Although I appreciate your frustration concerning your deposit, we can not honor your request for the following reasons:

1. You were not a party to the 1998 transaction that you refer to in your message, and you are not insured under any title insurance policy that may have been generated in regard to that transaction. We will not provide to others materials regarding our customers transactions.

2. Title insurance concerns the ownership of real property. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the ownership of rental security deposits. We have nothing in our files concerning rental deposits.

3. From the subject line of your message, I see that you know the recording number of the deed of trust recorded in 1998. You can retrieve the document from the county records, on-line or otherwise, as easily as we can if you want to ascertain the name and location of the lender. As far as we know this is the only public information available concerning the loan.

John R.
Title Operations Manager
Old Republic Title, LTD
4114 198th Street S.W. #4
Lynnwood, Washington 98036
(425) 776-1970

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 3:54 PM
To: John
Subject: Deed of Trust: 9808310814 -- Security deposit on 518-Williams Ave N, #4, Renton

Dear John:

I would like to find out the name and location of the financing bank for the above referenced property. I have been in the building for 14+ years and have gone through four owners and the latest owner wants a $500 security deposit inspite of the fact that I paid a deposit previous. For reasons not apparent, the previous owner failed to disclose the security deposit in escrow. However, I have strong proof of the payment.

I look forward to your reply. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

Sincerely,
RAY
PS -- Please send me a reply so that I know you received this.


On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:45:35 -0700 "Stacy" writes:
Ray,

You can reach John by the follow e-mail address:

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 3:37 PM
To:
Subject: Security deposit on 518-Williams Ave N, #4, Renton

Dear Stacy:

Would you be able to provide me the e-mail address for Mr. John? I live south of Seattle and it would be easier to e-mail him because of the distance. I have carefully reflected on this entire matter and believe that the landlord should file a claim against his title insurance and serve me proof within 14 days. This is what title insurance is for. Otherwise he should be willing to be responsible for refunding me my money.

Thanks for getting back with me.

Sincerely,
RAY
PS -- Please send me a reply so that I know you received this.

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:54:37 -0700 "Stacy" writes:
Here is the recording number of the Deed of Trust: 9808310814 you can pull a copy of it off the King County public records web site ( www.metrokc.gov) I can only give you information that is of public record. If you have any further questions or concerns you can write a letter to the title operations manager at the following address:

Old Republic Title
4114 198th Street SW #4
Lynnwood, WA 98036
ATTN: John
RE: Title # 209223
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 6:22 PM
To: Stacy
Cc:
Subject: [ possible spam detected ] Security deposit on 518-Williams Ave N, #4, Renton (NEW INFO -- see below)

Dear Stacy:

I was wondering if I might be able to trouble you for one last thing? Would you be able to tell me the name of the bank and loan officer that handled the transaction between --- and --- in 1998? This information should be recorded downtown in the King County Tax Assessor Records. I would think the Bank would have a copy of the settlement charges if Mario --- (brother of Ernie ---) no longer has the document.

I have spoken with Savin Escrow and the realtor. Savin no longer has the records. Looks like Mario ---, brother of the original owner is where we need to go to bring final resolution to the matter. He will need to change the name on the bank account at Renton First Savings Bank from Mrs. ---- to Larry and June--- Trust Account for the security deposit.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Sincerely,
RAY

18 Apr 2006 16:42:23 -
To:
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:19:36 -0700
Subject: RE: Order No. 634067

I am glad you got the contract from RHA. I have received my paper file this morning. If you still need the info about the escrow from 98' it was handled through Savren Escrow Services in Renton. Escrow officer and their phone number at the time was Linda @ 425-255-4466.
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 1:43 PM
To: Stacy
Cc:
Subject: Re: Order No. 6340674

Dear Stacy:

I have recovered the original RHA contract from the Renton Housing Authority that proves a deposit was paid. I have already spoken with Patty at Ticor and she doesn't see the deposit on the computer. She has ordered the full paper file and it won't be available before Thursday.

Thanks for getting back with me so promptly.

Sincerely,
RAY

On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:10:41 -0700 "Stacy " writes:
I have submitted a request to find the above file from my storage facility and shipped to me. It can take 2 to 3 days.

I also ran the legal description to find any recent conveyances. I found that the property was sold 01/12/2005. Title and escrow were done with Ticor Title and Escrow. Title No. 6340674-2 and the escrow officer was Patricia. If you have not yet already contacted them. You might want to see if they handled any "rent rolls" in escrow.

Stacy
Old Republic Title
4114 198th Street SW, #4
Lynnwood, WA 98036
425-776-5890 phone
425-776-5710 fax

Randal
Renton, Washington
U.S.A.

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