Michak v. Transnation Title Insurance

In this title insurance case, the issue is whether the insurer could change its preliminary commitment without telling its insured. The answer is no. Thus, we reverse the trial court’s summary dismissal of the insured’s complaint.

In the early 1990s, Brent C. Hart1 owned a 40-acre tract of land in Kitsap County. He obtained ingress and egress by means of two easements, each 30 feet wide, that traversed servient tracts to the west. One easement was recorded under auditor’s file number 7804180111, and the other was recorded under auditor’s file number 7804180112. Each easement adjoined the…