Chicago Title stands behind their escrow agents who redacted documents, forged documents, changed closing dates on agreements, misledgered earnest money as additional funds, and retaliated--only to later admit in a deposition that she didn't like me. After I was threatened by the investors--after two breaches with no actual buyer and no funds--that if I didn't sell to them, they'd make it so I couldn't sell at all, I called Susan Handwerk, thinking she was head legal at Chicago Title. For three months straight, I was told there were no liens on my property. But at the end of that third month, their escrow agent spent two days redacting and voiding documents, and shortly after, a lien was placed on my home. Now here's the truth: the investors never backed out--because they were never the ones buying it. They're flippers. Their game is to get someone else to buy the contract from them at a higher price so they can pocket the difference. But when their supposed end buyer backed out, they were left with nobody to fund the deal. And instead of walking away or being honest, they screwed me again--acting like I was in breach, when in reality they had no buyer, no money, and no right to the house. And what did the escrow officer do? She hid that fact--that there was no buyer, no funds--while screaming that I was in breach, setting the stage for one of their investor buddies, a Fidelity National faculty member, to file a wrongful lien on my home. A lien that the court later ruled was invalid. Because of that, I was forced to seek legal help, lost my credit, became housing unstable, and was shoved straight into poverty. I have every document, recording, email, and text message to back this up--including forged contracts with audit trails, showing signatures were copied from one app and pasted into another. I even have declarations from the end buyer--yes, the guy who backed out--admitting he walked away and forfeited his earnest money. And Susan Handwerk--the one who told me over and over again that there were no liens? The one who said she was "head legal" on a recorded call? Their own 30(b)(6) corporate rep testified under oath that she holds no legal position at all. She's basically head of the Take-Care-of-Bullshit Department--nothing more. This wasn't incompetence. This was a coordinated cover-up, a retaliatory conspiracy between escrow officers, the title company, and a tight circle of investors who all knew exactly what they were doing. I was given no truth, no transparency, and no real chance. My entire life was destroyed by this company's actions. And when I was in court as a pro se litigant with all the evidence in hand, they just kept saying, "That didn't happen," until they finally out-moneyed me into silence. read more

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I am so glad that I called this Title company to figure out what was going on with my property. And when I got Lori Cardoza on the phone she was Heaven sent, because not only did she help me figure out my issue, but she also was very knowledgeable about what was going on with my case. Plus she went out of her way to email me the documents that I needed. So, I highly recommend reaching out to this company and I hope that you get Lori like I did because she is the best! read more

Chicago Title Company - Real Estate Services Near Me - San Francisco, California

We had a really fantastic experience. Gerrie was super kind and helpful and the turnaround was fantastic.

Very bad experienc with Chicago title company. The house we try to close has to be postponed, instead of wire transfer money to our lender, they rejected the funds. it has been 8 days, the lender still has not received its money, causing two houses outstanding. they save on pennies yet cause so much inconvenience to customers. Avoid doing business with them. incompatent and inefficient. read more

used Chicago Title to buy a condo in July 2020. Gerrie at Chicago Title was great to worth with. although i had some questions and found some mistakes in their documents, she was responsive and quick to get them corrected. minus one star because their combined escrow fee and title insurance cost was quite high (significantly higher than what my realtor told me to expect). note that sometimes their email goes to spam for whatever reason read more

I would avoid doing business with Chicago Title at all costs next times in future! The closing experience was awful, after money was paid, they would delay several days checking your emails or service requests. Every request needs a phone call, which means only when they are online available. Below is a reply from a senior officer to me when I ask why they missed so many emails. I am so shocked!! " Here are emails what my buyer and I request grand deed lots of time. I don't think it is easy to miss for so many emails!!!! Would you confirm you get the email now? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes it is very easy to miss emails, Thank you ! Millie Espino Sr. Escrow Officer Chicago Title Company O: (408) 972-7016 | D: (408) 360-4284 | F: (408) 365-9325 5671 Santa Teresa Blvd., Suite 206 | San Jose, CA 95123 Millie.Espino@ctt.com | www.ChicagoAlmaden.com" read more

Would not recommend. The one on Van Ness Ave is unresponsive and not helpful at all. We kept on asking if we need anymore paperwork because we were in a deadline. No response until the deadline was upon us. Then the request for paperwork came in. We could have done this weeks ago, not at the last minute! Never will use them again. They caused us so much stress. If they can not even respond to an email it's not where you want to go to take care of business. read more

These clowns sent the wrong amount to my home insurance company and due to that I am now past due for my home insurance. Great work for all the fees you get paid Chicago Title! Literally your entire job is to send money around, and if you cannot do that, what can you do? Also their employees are rude and unprofessional. read more

My worst experience with a title company ever. PLEASE! PLEASE! GO TO A DIFFERENT COMPANY!! Over the last 3 years I got 6 closings with 3 different companies. This was BY FAR the worst. Starting with a wrong Final Statement that went 10K short on the money that I had to deposit. I realized that the same closing day and was able to transfer 10K more before the closing. They sent me the Final Closing Statement (right this time) TWO DAYS AFTER the closing!! It was supposed to be a DocuSign closing at 2:00 pm. I had to wait until 3:45 going back and forth with my lawyer until the closing agent showed up with an email saying they were working on the papers. One hour later she sent a .pdf to be printed, signed, scanned and sent back. NOT A SAFE TRANSACTION!! Nor a DocuSign as it was supposed to be. After asking for a DocuSign the agent said she was working remotely and didn't have DocuSign!! REALLY???. Finally I got a DocuSign at 5:30 PM (3 and 1/2 hours later!!). They stated a wrong address on the State Docs, and didn't do anything yet to correct that. I'll have to pay for changing that (for their mistakes!! NEVER AGAIN!! read more

They got the closing statement amount wrong. They had 30 days to prep for this, and still managed to somehow not give us the correct buyer's closing statement ::facepalm:: The staff there however was friendly, called me to apologize, and did not hold up close of escrow. So managed to redeem via attentive service. read more

I have to agree with the other negative reviews of this Title Company. I grew up in a real estate family in Texas and have very strong ties to our title people there. As a REALTOR of 35 years, I know a thing or two about Title. When we closed at Chicago Title Company 4 years ago it was a dreadful experience. We are listing our condo now and I was looking for a good Title Company and I knew immediately THIS one was not going to get my business a second time. read more

Worst company in the world. It is a Warning! Extremely Unreliable and non responsive. They waste your time and money. Avoid them ! read more

By far the worst title company I've ever dealt with. Redding California. I have worked with over a dozen companies over the past 10 years and would not trust this company. We were set to close on the 30th. They call at 1pm the 30th to say that all the documents are not yet ready. Very unprofessional with no consideration for the clients. USE ANOTHER COMPANY!!! read more

They dragged my title transfer on for months because they said there were tax warrants. It took weeks and multiple attempts contacting them to get an explanation of exactly what these warrants were. Turns out that it was someone with a similar name as mine owed taxes in the county where the property was located. It is unclear if the court system put some sort of lien on my property by mistake or if Chicago Title found someone with a similar name who owed taxes. In any case, anyone who has done the most basic amount of due diligence can see the person who owes taxes is not me because the name is wrong and I live in a different state. I was able to locate this tax delinquent person with a simple Google search. Still, they required me to fill out and get a proof of identity form notarized. This review is a work in progress. We are at two stars now and they can work their way up or down depending on if they create any more issues and obstacles. Judging from the other reviews here we will probably be going down. read more

I am a real estate broker and I represented my client to buy a property back in 2015. Last year my client found out that their property has a lien from the previous owner. I called Chicago title stating that the title officer has overlooked this lien before we close the escrow, but they refuse to pay this lien. We as a consumer believe that Chicago title has breach their due diligence, due professional and due care in this matter. If I may give no star for this review, I think they don't even deserve no star. ingri read more

I recently closed a home with Chicago Title. I spoke to Juanita Leung who was responsive and quickly recommended Maria Santos to handle Title and Escrow services for us. Maria was professional, courteous and efficient. She took care of the process seamlessly. I highly recommend Chicago and it was a true pleasure working with such a great team! Thanks Juanita and Maria for making the process epic...I will definitely do business with Chicago Title again. read more

Michael Yip is a clown. Rude, ignorant and unprofessional. Padded my loan fees, then tried to say the lender inserted those amounts even though it was never estimated by the lender. Turned out the padding was never needed, but if he knew what he was doing he could have explained it properly. The whole office is a joke, cant walk and chew gum. read more

they can't get a simple property address correct or an email address for that matter good luck with these clowns.

Worst title company I've ever dealt with. No one knows how to do their job, you have to tell them everything twice. Slow and incompetent as well, it's like everyone just sits there and gets nothing done. I usually don't write reviews but I really advise you to do your escrows elsewhere. read more

I would avoid doing business with Chicago Title at all costs! The closing experience was awful and like so many others were left scrambling on signing day when closing costs were significantly higher than what was shown prior. In addition, 3 years after moving into our home we've been hit with a delinquent tax notice due to the fact that the home builder, Rally Homes, knowingly sold our home without paying the county taxes they owed. What is the point of a title company if they can't even verify the legitimacy of the properties. I could have saved all the fees. Now despite this being a complete miss on their part, Chicago Title company and Rally Homes are not taking responsibility for the delinquent taxes leaving dealing with the mess! read more

There is no way to reach anyone for service once you close unless you go the route of selecting to schedule a closing. They sure answer that. We closed Friday and it is now Monday afternoon and they are still withholding the proceeds from the sale of our home. They gave us some garage that we would have it by Monday noon and if not, would call. Well, we don't have the proceeds from the sale of our home and the agent isn't even at work, no call, no communication, just me spinning my wheels trying to reach someone to ask why they are withholding the proceeds to our home. They sit on your money to make interest but we have a bid on a home and cannot proceed forward without receiving our funds so I suppose they aren't happy enough with their fees, they just keep your money to generate interest. Slimy liars. If they represent Monday by noon or a phone call I expect that they will be worth their word. Now I know. Everyone I asked about closing told me they received their funds the same day so there is that too. I wouldn't use them ever again. I should not have to hunt down my funds. If you like hunting for your money this is the service for you. read more

Disclaimer: We did not ultimately go with this company for the sole reason that the seller (who is also a reator) stipulated that we use the title company that he chose. (Yeah, it's all a very slimy business.) However, I do want to write a positive review for this office, and in particular, Mark Adams. Back when we thought we'd be choosing our title company (as is typically done), I called around various title insurance places and got a variety of responses. From no response, to "We'll get back to you," then no response, to incomplete emailed responses (very fuzzy numbers). In stark and wonderful contrast, Mark did the following: - Called me back immediately (5 min after I left a message with the secretary), and right around 5pm - likely near the end of his shift - Emailed me the next morning with specific & narrow ball-park figures - Throughout our (albeit minimal) interactions, he was extremely courteous and informative - Came up with numbers that beat (by a small margin,) the few other responses I got from other companies The results of my research were a) the costs seem to be all fairly similar across the companies, b) title insurance is a total scam because it doesn't actually insure anything (not the bank, not you - I'm serious, read the documents full of disclaimers like, they check all public records about your home, but in case you find something else in a public or private record, they aren't liable or expected to have found it). I can't quite give them 5 stars since I didn't actually go with this company (since it became out of my control), and also, as I mentioned, I do believe title insurance in general is an unnecessary parasite that doesn't actually cover you for anything, instead, bleeds you dry of just a little more cash as you prepare for a lifetime of home mortgage debt. But since you have to get title insurance in order to get your loan, and they do facilitate the actual close of the escrow period, you might as well go with someone who is courteous, competent, and appears to actually want your business. read more

Told them I wanted them to close on my home. They told me to email my Purchase Agreement to their "closer". I did and heard nothing for 2 days. I called their business phone and after many rings was greeted with "hello". I asked if this was Chicago Title and was told yes. I asked why the person didn't answer the phone with "Chicago Title" and she said she was working from home and my number came up as Spam. What is going on? I have no confidence this is a competent organization. I wish you only the best if you count on them to handle your business-I sure won't! read more

Fantastic company amazingly kind people. Our escrow officer Gina Garcia was so professional, extremely helpful and just a great person. There are people who do their job,then there are people who go beyond that to be helpful. It's not to make a sale, or just make money. They do it because they are kind and enjoy making someone happy. When I couldn't make it in to her office because well truth be told having one leg isn't as glamous as you'd think. All it gets me is a great parking space. So she had someone come to me. Another wonderfully kind person Veronica Lake I know right? Like the movie star and just as beautiful. So I couldn't resist had her sign my leg right next to Rob and Sherri Moon Zombie. So thank you beautiful ladies for doing more than just your job. Thank you for showing me kindness and making me smile. I certainly appreciate you both. read more

This title company charged excess fees for a Notary to come to our house for one signature. Our loan was through Merrill Lynch. Due to our relationship with ML, we do not pay fees for a notary. Although the fees are not significant, they are much higher than any other title company. We tried to speak with the manager, who talked through us and would not listen. We recommend that no one use the San Francisco location. Best to use other title companies read more

Two of the most amazing and complex escrows I have ever witnessed have occurred here. The first of which I was a blossoming assistant to a very stellar team and the second one starring 'as myself' in control of the ship. I am happy to say that the second was today and I am elated that my former broker stopped by coincidentally during my signing...what a wonderful place San Francisco is that the most amazing random odds seem to occur almost on a daily basis. Anyhow, enough about that. Nan Hughes is the one to deal with here. She is a true character and really sharp in terms of her perception about quintessential keys to a person's essence and can engage it a such a way throughout an escrow - you seem to forget that you are even involved with a transaction at all. What a great demonstration of skill and I can only hope that I will achieve that stature at a foreseeable point in time. Bravo! read more

It pains me that I even have to give a star here. Chicago Title and my escrow officer, Michael Yip, were unprofessional, incompetent, and downright unpleasant. I would AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. They never contacted me regarding signing. I had to reach out to them multiple times to arrange signing. They were generally non-responsive and gave no sense of closing schedule whatsoever. There were numerous typos on the HUD-1 that had to be corrected. Then several weeks after closing and funding it became apparent that they underpaid a fee because they read the quote incorrectly (a quote I never had access to) - they literally took a different number than the listed total. I spoke with Michael Yip on the phone and he was extremely rude, told me that they don't stand by any of their paperwork/calculations and that they never spoke with the vendor in question despite me having email evidence to the contrary. I will never work with Chicago Title again - buying a home is stressful enough. read more

I was in the process of buying land located at 8402 San Fidel Way near Fair Oaks Ranch. The owner of the land decided to use Chicago Title Company for the closing of the property.  We received an email from Val Juve, vice president of the 755 E. Mulberry Ave. location in regards to a wire transfer that needed to take place.  I was told that they only do wire transfers and that wire instructions would be sent through email.   On July 30, 2018 an email was received from Val Juve containing the wire instructions.  On the day of the closing, August 1, 2018, I wired $39,507.47 from my bank, RBFCU to Bank of America as instructed.  Come August 2, 2018, I received an email from Val asking where the money was since they never received the wire transfer.  I told him that the transfer was completed August 1, 2018 prior to the closing taking place. I sent him the receipt of the wire transfer to his email as proof that it was completed.  He failed to complete his due diligence prior to the the closing date and the day of the closing.  The email that was received came from his email address.  I didn't think twice in questioning the email since we had already been corresponding back and forth through email. Anyway, come to find out from Val, the wire instructions I received were not sent by them, Chicago Title, and that he didn't know where those instructions came from.  The wire instructions were sent from his email address however, he refused to believe that.  I immediately called my bank, RBFCU and requested a wire recall to be issued.  My bank, RBFCU did all the required paperwork to get the wire transfer recalled from Bank of America. I now have an attorney since Chicago Title is not wanting to take full responsibility for this fraudulent issue!  The vice president, Val, again, should have done his due diligence by following up to make sure we received the correct wire instructions and that we fully understood them.  That was never done!  After all this happened, he said that the email should have come from a secured third party email, which was not relayed to us prior to closing.  He should have mentioned either over the phone or over email what email address the instructions should be coming from since it wasn't coming from one of their emails.  I never received it. As of today, the matter is still unresolved by Chicago Titles attorney or Bank of America.  As I'm writing this report, I had already lost the sale and all other monies associated with the sale.  I believe Chicago Title has not protected me and has failed to resolve this issue in a timely manner. read more

Alisha Word, Simply the best at closing Escrows quickly and professionally . Cool under fire. Easy to deal with, always returns calls promptly and made every attempt to be fair. In a world where everyone is out just to make money. Alisha kept being fair as her main focus and I'll never forget her for that. Thank you Alisha! Your parents did a great job raising you with values that is so hard to find these days. read more

Chicago Title was the most professional and -dare I say it- pleasant company that joined the crazy process of buying a condo in Soma. I worked with Star, who surprised me with her professionalism and quick turnaround. As I approached close of escrow, I had been jaded with most of the people I'd worked with during the purchase process. Plus, the receptionist was very nice. Parking is validated in the building garage, but only if you are lucky to drive in when the garage is not full. It is never not full, meaning you will have to pay for parking in one of the pricey garages in Fidi. Plan accordingly. Everyone gets paid except for you as a buyer in the home purchase process (crazy laugh). A bunch of banks are within walking distance to grab that big (for me anyway) cashier's check. My hand was shaking when I forked it over. read more

I had an issue with a property dispute and Chicago Title took care of it I would recommend them to everyone

Horrible company can't get their stuff together at all inept certainly at the money level at what else is a title company for

Please if you are looking for escrow company don't used this company this is the worst company. They don't care about you time they work only for the money and don't put time in you business I was working with other escrow company and some time they do at mistake but Chicago title make to many and they don't care about time and he's personal don't care about you time or what are thinking..please find different company don't get the bad experience with this people seriously this is the most worst company CHICAGO TITLE read more

I bought my trailer and Chicago title was paid to do the title work. I received a letter a year later by the old owner saying that the trailer was still in her name, so I called Chicago title and the lady assured me she get it straightened out. another year came around the old owner sent me another letter with the tax form with the trailer still in her name. I called Chicago title again and they assured me it would be done. I told them that what they have told me for the last two years. The third year rolls around old owner sent me another letter saying my trailer still in her name . I called Chicago title again they were closed so I had to go through another office the other office said that the office that handled my sale had closed down I told him what had happened they said they couldn't find any records of the sale and they could not find my title. They wouldn't even help get a replacement title the company lost the title.SOME TITLE COMPANY ISEE WHY THE HAVE BAD REVIEWS I had to go abandoned title on my trailer and didn't get any money back from them. STAY AWAY FROM THEM. read more

Maria Santos was recommended by a friend. After two days of a deal not going through Maria was unresponsive to my response, snippy with my Realtor, and completely unapproachable. I would not recommend doing business with Chicago Title. read more

I would give them NO STARS. They misrepresent fees in the closing documents and insert JUNK FEES. If you are not aware they will cheat you. My advise use another title insurer. read more

I wasn't going to write anything until I saw the good reviews specifically for Mark Adams. Here's my experience. Sent polite email on a Thur, phone call on Friday. Monday afternoon I called again and left voicemail (again). Monday night I sent an irate email cc'ing real estate agent, sales person, and loan officer. Tues morning I get an email from his secretary about the paperwork. Over the next week until the end of closing I never once received a call or email from him. I'm glad that he is better with others, because otherwise I don't see how he can still have a job. read more

Bought my first house and everything went smoothly except for the customer service from Chicago Title. They are incredibly unprofessional and rude and pretty much ruined my closing experience. The escrow agent would not respond to my lender's or agent's queries concerning final closing costs. I closed Monday morning and was not provided the final numbers until after 5 p.m. the Friday before, leaving me to scramble to find a bank open that could wire funds over the weekend. It was a mess that took hours of my time unnecessarily. Over the phone, I was told they had too much business and could not expect to keep up with the work load. They also lied to me about not having the numbers until Friday afternoon (when they clearly had them, because the seller signed the closing documents on Friday). Then there was the matter of them not having the keys to my new house available at closing and being told that was my problem to deal with. I do not ever write yelp reviews but this company is awful and ruined my entire closing experience. read more

My escrow on a condo in SF went fine, and the escrow officer always responded quickly and clearly. The whole thing was pretty painless... until I had to choose a property insurance policy. Got quote, the title company withheld funds for the policy. All fine, but when that amount later changed (by the insurance company) and I had to issue a separate check, the title company did not refund the amount as _agreed_. I had to follow up with them 2 months later to get my 1k+ refund... I feel like this should have been caught by the escrow officer closing the escrow. read more

I have to agree with Ravena F about Mark Adams. Our refi process has taken over 3 months (which isn't the norm, but is now with the low rates). I emailed Mark Friday night at 6pm to see if he can expedite our escrow closing. He called me in less than 5 minutes to let me know once he gets the docs, he would schedule a time for us to come in. That is speedy service! read more