Investors Title Co

Investors Title Co. agreed to pay $1 million to settle accusations that it paid real estate professionals to steer business its way, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Thursday. The settlement was the latest announced by Garamendi's office, which has been investigating title industry practices for more than a year.

Investors Title Co. agreed to pay $1 million to settle accusations that it paid real estate professionals to steer business its way, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Thursday. The settlement was the latest announced by Garamendi's office, which has been investigating title industry practices for more than a year.

The first thing firefighters did to reduce potentially dangerous crowding at a Van Nuys hotel Thursday was order everybody to stay inside. Officials said they temporarily sealed the exits of the Airtel Plaza Hotel because they worried that people would rush to the doors--preventing an accurate head count needed to show illegal crowding--after the organizer of a realtors' conference announced that the Fire Department was closing the event.

The 30-foot Christmas tree was sparkling. A deejay played a rock 'n' roll Christmas song. The bar in the corner was open. Guests at the Investors Title Co. office Christmas party were relieved. "I was surprised we were having a party this year," said Kevin Olsen, an Eagle Rock title officer. "There seems to be a trend for companies to cut them out. "The place I used to work for is just having egg nog and punch after work this year. Spouses aren't even invited."

Giant title insurer Fidelity National Financial has won a temporary restraining order against a rival that it accuses of raiding its Southern California offices of employees, customers and trade secrets. Fidelity sued Mercury Cos. and a number of former Fidelity employees, claiming they conspired to "cripple" the local operations of Fidelity's Ticor Title subsidiary and other divisions. The lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages.

People have long valued land over other forms of wealth, finding in its permanence a haven against disaster. Today, the equity in our homes is what keeps some of us from jumping off bridges when the Visa bill comes due. But what happens when the unexpected does hit? Say a door-to-door salesman slips on your front doorstep, breaks a hip and sues for half a mil. Or the business you own is slapped with a $1-million judgment to pay an unsecured creditor.

You wouldn't know it by looking at the chief executive's base salary, but Fidelity National Financial Inc. placed first among Orange County companies in stock appreciation over a five-year period. The nation's fifth largest title insurance companies, Newport Beach-based Fidelity saw the value of its shares increase more than tenfold. According to its proxy statement to shareholders, $100 invested in Fidelity shares in 1988 was worth $1,388.50 at the end of the company's 1993 fiscal year.