Opinion ID: 3059960
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to provide title report

Text: Millette argues that Tarnove breached her fiduciary duty as closing agent because she did not provide Millette with a title report before the closing of the purchase of the property, and the title report would have revealed two pre-existing mortgages on the property. Millette’s property was released from the pre-existing mortgages when those mortgages were paid using the closing proceeds due to DEK, the seller. But, the satisfaction of the mortgages was not executed and recorded until fifteen months after closing, in December 2006. The district court granted Tarnove’s Rule 50(a) motion on this claim because Millette did not produce evidence that she suffered damages as a result of Tarnove’s failure to provide the title report. Millette claims this was error, arguing that she suffered damages because: (1) she would have exercised her right under the purchase contract to rescind the entire transaction had she received a title report advising her of the pre-existing mortgages; and (2) she had to pay loan interest payments for fifteen months even though Webster Bank did not have a first-lien position and Millette did not have clear title. 6 Millette also sued Tarnove for professional negligence, and the district court granted Tarnove’s Rule 50(a) motion on this claim as well. Millette does not challenge on appeal the dismissal of her claim for professional negligence. 14 We agree with the district court that Millette produced no evidence showing that Tarnove’s failure to provide a title report caused damage to Millette. First, Millette did not have the contractual right to rescind the transaction due to a potential title defect at closing; instead, Paragraph Eight of the Purchase Contract provides that Tarnove could have cured any title defects by the closing date or within a reasonable time. (Dkt. 636-3 at 2.) Second, Millette did not suffer damages by paying interest on her loan with Webster Bank for fifteen months while Webster Bank did not have first-lien position. Even if Webster Bank did not have first-lien position, this fact does not relieve Millette of the obligation to pay the principal and interest on the loan. The district court did not err in granting Tarnove’s Rule 50(a) motion on the breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the title report.