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M <br />From <br />Su6ject <br />City Manager <br />Director of Public Works <br />TITLE COMPANY PRICING AGREEMENTS <br />Date February 2, 1972 <br />State law requires that title companies charge for their services in strict <br />accordance with their published rate schedules unless there exists a written <br />pricing agreement between the governmental agency and the title company. <br />Although these published schedules are changed occasionally, there tends to <br />be considerable uniformity among all the published schedules. The City's <br />need for title services varies greatly from year to year, but we estimate <br />that potential savings available to the City with these agreements are <br />$3,500 to $5,000 per year. <br />In 1968, the City entered into such agreements with the three major title <br />companies (Security Title, Title Insurance and Trust, and First American Title) <br />establishing the prices charged for their services. Since then several <br />increases in industry -wide rate schedules have occurred, and these <br />original companies have requested termination of their agreements. All of <br />the agreements are cancelable at the option of either party. These three <br />major companies have recently submitted new agreements for your acceptance. <br />The enclosed chart shows the changes proposed. <br />Our decisions of which company's services to use are not always based entirely <br />upon price alone. Promptness is also an important factor sometimes. Since <br />the workload of any particular company may vary greatly during the year, the <br />time required to process a job may also vary. None of these pricing agreements <br />requires the City to do all of its title business with that company, or to <br />do any minimum amount of business with the company. <br />Therefore, we believe that it is in the best interest of the City to enter <br />into these pricing agreements whenever possible with all interested title <br />companies to secure savings under the published rate schedule. We shall <br />continue to attempt to secure the lowest prices and fastest service. <br />Recommendation: It is recommended that the City Council authorize the <br />execution of the written agreements with First American Title Company, Title <br />Insurance and Trust Company, Security Title, and the execution of agreements with any <br />additional title companies willing to enter into such agreements at rates <br />below their published rate schedules. <br />4" <br />1onald F. W ord <br />Encl: Chart <br />