Olde City Abstract

I was so very hopeful about this Title Insurance Company. Doing my due diligence I went straight to ALTA the American Land Title Association and looked up companies in my area. I called a few to get quotes and ask questions. When I called Olde City Abstract I was transferred to an agent whose name I won’t broadcast here. She was wonderful on the phone that day; she was so reassuring and helpful. I loved her demeanor and customer service so I chose OCA.
What a nightmare. To make a long story short, as soon as I walked in the door to hand over my money and close, her demeanor changed. She was brisk and stand-​offish despite my trying my best to smile and be pleasant. Oh, well the deal was done. No big whoop. Until the city sent me a form that there was one tiny error that none of us caught buried in the long legal description on my deed – a simple slip of the finger resulted in the typing of a zero rather than a nine – and now my boundaries made no sense. I panicked. Did I actually own the property? Would the seller be amenable to going back to Center City to meet me and correct it? (He was not, turns out.) I emailed the agent right away (to have written documentation) and told her about the error. No warm sweetness as she was on the phone the first time, just a curt reply with no greeting or salutation. Just: «Fax me the paper.» With that response I was done. I faxed the paper and then I mailed a letter to the main insurance agency and just informed them of what was going on and was quick to note that OCA was «in process» of handling the situation. The letter was simply an FYI to CMA.
After faxing all the necessary documentation over, I asked what I thought was a reasonable questions: «How long would it take for the the Deed of Correction?» (After all, this is EXACTLY why one buys title insurance.) She was vague, curt and brisk and made me feel as though I had done something wrong by even bringing it up. Finally at some point she was able to say, «I don’t know. Could be 60 days. I don’t know how long it will take.» Sixty days was a long time to wait but I wasn’t going to rock the boat anymore; the agent was clearly irritated that I dared to want to have my deed corrected. I decided I was not going to deal with OCA anymore. I would simply keep tabs by going through the main insurance company which by that time had had an agent contact me.
I did email OCA one last time somewhere between 60 and 90 days later to say, «It’s been over two months? How long is a reasonable time to wait for this?» I bought the property in late May, got the letter from the City about the error in June and it wasn’t until sometime in August that the Deed of Correction was on record.
OCA I would like you to know that I would NOT have written this negative review if your representative had not been so rude about a mistake that OCA made. Not ONCE was I ever told, «Oh my goodness. We are terribly sorry for this error. We know how concerned you must be. We will work to rectify this right away.» NOT ONCE. Had that happened, I would have written this review very differently, giving you 4 stars for courteous service and efficient business practice, despite the human error.