Statement Regarding Settlement

Universal Title recently entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance with the Washington D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) regarding allegations of D.C. Consumer Protection laws in connection with our affiliated title operation. The OAG has cast a very large net, but its allegations have been applied to a categorically different set of facts and circumstances at Universal Title. We emphatically deny any illegal activity, but the prohibitive costs and time considerations that come with defending ourselves have driven us to settle.

OAG’s suggestion that discounted shares of ownership in the affiliated title operation were exchanged for referral business, or kickbacks, is untrue. Investors in the Universal Title affiliated operation did so at rates at or above market. In fact, the investing partners collectively raised $235,000 in an initial round of capitalization for a minority share of 25% ownership. The OAG’s allegations that receiving a distribution of profits from a legitimate business are in violation of the law run counter to the legislative intent and subsequent interpretation by the D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB)

The accusation that investors in Universal Title’s affiliated businesses illegally steered consumers is also untrue. Almost a third of our investors never referred a single title or closing order to the operation, and the capture rate of their business was merely 13%. Universal Title has always been and remains committed to transparency. Our business is a valuable part of the real estate process, and our primary function is to protect the consumer from fraud and needless litigation while ensuring their secure transaction.