Transamerica Title Insurance Co. v. Johnson

Johnson (defendant) sold vacant lots subject to finalized sewer assessments without assigning that liability to buyers in the earnest money agreements, and hired Transamerica (plaintiff) to issue title insurance that failed to disclose the assessments; after Transamerica had to pay the assessments on insured purchasers' behalf, it sued Johnson to recover that amount, and Johnson argued Transamerica owed it disclosure duties as a title abstractor and had violated the state's Consumer Protection Act.