Hold Everything! Fidelity LandAmerica On Again . . . Sort Of

Update November 26^th: The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that Fidelity will buy Lawyers Title and Commonwealth Title. Also, LandAmerica and its 1031 Exchange Company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. (thanks to Dave Wirshing)

In the short term, this is a good thing. Yesterday when national lenders reportedly stopped accepting LandAmerica policies, they were essentially dead in the water. Financial stability should no longer be a concern. Although there appeared little chance that LandAmerica's title underwriters would end up in regulatory reorganization, removing the specter of doubt about their financial condition benefits the entire title industry.

Long term, there are many uncertainties for title agents and their customers. I raised some of those questions in an earlier post which you can read here.