American Title Insurance v. Shawmut Bank of Rhode Island, N.A.

OPINION AND ORDER

RAYMOND J. PETTINE, Senior District Judge.

Following a series of transactions involving the brokering of purchase money mortgage loans between purchasers of real estate and loan wholesalers, the defendant bank debited a client’s account on the forged endorsement of checks payable to another. The central issue I must resolve is whether or not the defendant bank’s actions comported with reasonable commercial standards. In the factual context of this case, I find that it did not.

I

The involved parties are American Title Insurance Company (“American Title”), a Florida corporation,…