Ticor Gives Back – and has a little fun in the process

On October 26, 2010   /   Blog, Ticor Gives Back  

This week kicks off our “Ticor Gives Back” initiative.  We’ve formed a committee, done our homework on local organizations, printed up fliers, and rallied our staff with a little incentive to give a little extra this year.  And sure enough, the announcement to the sales team that we were having a community support-drive spurred on a bit of healthy competition.  Here are the challenges we have so far…

1 Picture = 1 Can. As an incentive to get the word out, I pledged to donate one can of food for every picture sent to me that relates to a client or employee making a donation.

The first to get 5 people involved. Our county manager (Marci) and sales manager (Ryan) challenged each other thusly:

The first person to get 5 clients to donate at least 1 can of food wins.  The loser has to donate 10 cans and $20.

This one was settled within 48 hours when Marci sent the following picture to the sales team, simultaneously winning the challenge and being the first to submit a picture, requiring me to donate 1 can!  Way to go, Marci!

canned foodImage by shooting brooklyn via Flickr

In all seriousness, we truly feel blessed and want to share with our community.  A little healthy competition on our team is sincerely intended to generate more relief in a shorter amount of time for people in need in the Puget Sound area.

If you would like to get involved, please email us, call 425-255-7575, or stop by one of our escrow branches with a donation of any amount.

Even one can of non perishable food can make a difference in someone’s day.  And remember every photo of someone participating in Ticor Gives Back will help a family!

Happy Giving!
Matt Sweet
Ticor Title

*All donations will be delivered to Northwest Harvest, Helping Hand House, Hope Link and the Humane Society.

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Is someone using my photos without permission? Find out who!

On October 11, 2010   /   Blog, Technology  

Is someone using my photo without permission? Have you ever wondered this?  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a quick tool for finding out?

Thieves

Tineye.com can help!

Tineye is a reverse image lookup tool (and it’s free). What does that mean?  Basically, you can show tineye your photo and it will show you where it found that photo or similar photos elsewhere online.  Very cool!

So if you have a prize winning photo of a real estate listing or sunset photo of Mt. Rainier that you don’t want anyone to use without your permission, you now have a tool for finding photo poachers!

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Why do I need Title Insurance? The Tale of the old Utility Agreement…

On October 6, 2010   /   Blog, Title Insurance  
Water and Sewage pipes of a Jerusalem ~1930 bu...

Image via Wikipedia

Why do we need title insurance? Let us count the ways…  Below is a scenario that came about in an older, well established neighborhood with a rich history of utility technologies (i.e. a variety of plumbing and utility technologies from the last 80 or so years).  Needless to say, in this case a title issue arose when plumbing and utility upgrades became necessary.

The Old Utility Agreement Rears its Head

The Old Agreement
In 1975 an agreement was recorded between Bill Home Owner and the local utility company.  This agreement allowed a sub-standard temporary hook-up to utilities (a water line).  The agreement stated that the owner would pay a fee at a later time to connect to the water system when the utility company installs / upgrades their system.

Fast forward decades…
The property had been bought and sold several times since the agreement was established.  But, when the utility company completed their upgrade, this triggered the need for the homeowner to upgrade their connection to the utility per the 1975 agreement.  The cost of this upgrade in today’s dollars is approximately $5,000, a substantial amount that the current home owner did not anticipate when purchasing the home.

The Resolution
Jake and Susan, the present home owners, tendered a claim to Ticor Title with whom they are insured.  And in this particular case, it was determined that the matter was covered under their title insurance policy.  Ticor coordinated with Jake and Susan and the utility company to pay the outstanding amount owed to the utility company per the agreement.  Ticor also received a release of the 1975 agreement from the utility company and recorded the release in order to remove the cloud on title.

Ticor Title is backed by the nation’s largest title insurance claims reserves, giving us a strong financial position and unsurpassed ability to pay claims for our insured. If you are unsure of your current title insurance company’s solvency or ability to pay claims, or have questions about your coverage, please contact us.

Best Regards,
Ticor Title
425-255-7575
facebook.com/myticor
@myticor

This story was provided by Gregg Colbo, Senior Underwriter, Ticor Title.  This story is based on real life circumstances.  However, the names of the people in this story are ficticious and were chosen randomly.  The intent of this article is to illustrate the value of title insurance.
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