Posted by Craig Davidson on 8/7/08 4:07pm
Msg #259160
Lenders First Choice shuts down, closes Metro Orlando unit
I know this is old news. Just in case you did not see this...
Lenders First Choice shuts down, closes Metro Orlando unit
Richard Burnett | Sentinel Staff Writer
August 6, 2008
A California-based title insurance agency has shuttered its Metro Orlando operation and other offices across the country, displacing scores of employees and customers, officials said Tuesday.
Lenders First Choice went out of business last week, abruptly closing its Longwood center along with units in California, Texas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
It was not known how many employees and customers were affected by the unexpected action. The title agency's parent, Denver-based Mercury Companies Inc., would not comment.
Mercury did announce last week it would close its title insurance units in California, Arizona and Texas. But it did not mention Florida or Lenders First. Mercury cited "rising economic pressures and a declining real estate market."
Based in Simi Valley, Lenders First becomes one of the latest casualties of the nation's housing, mortgage and credit crisis. It provided title insurance and home loan closing services to lenders nationwide.
Former customers of Lenders First Choice are being referred to First American Corp. at 1-800-540-7064. First American, the underwriter for title insurance policies sold by Lenders First, confirmed Lenders' closing.
Lenders opened its Longwood office in 2004 with plans to hire as many as 250 people, according to Seminole County officials. It received economic-incentive tax breaks to locate here but never applied to receive payment, a county spokeswoman said Tuesday.
It never came close to its initial hiring projection and had been downsizing dramatically during the past year, said Robin Roberts, a principal in Longwood-based Protegrity Properties Inc., which owns the building where the company was located. She said the company closed last Wednesday.
Richard Burnett can be reached at [e-mail address] or 407-420-5256.
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Reply by Nancy M. Misenar on 8/7/08 6:18pm
Msg #259190
Good info here, now all of us make a mad dash to call that number to see if us notaries will get paid. Like they would be of any help anyway, so with that said.... I have put my 2 closing for LFC I did last month in the not going to be paid file.
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