The District Court of Idaho recently decertified a title
insurance reissue rate class action, finding the initial
justifications for class certification have "not withstood the
test of time." Under the Idaho Rate Manual, customers are
entitled to a 50 percent discount when a title policy is issued
within two years of a previous policy on the same property by the
same owner. Seven years ago, the court granted class certification
for a class of Idaho residential customers of First American Title
Insurance Co. ("First American") who were allegedly not
given this discount and overcharged while refinancing their title
residential insurance policies.
The subsequent discovery process was riddled with obstacles as
plaintiff struggled to develop a workable and accurate proposed
list of class members, culminating in a proposed list of which 91
percent of the individuals were ineligible under the class
definition. First American moved to decertify the class in 2012,
but a
