Presents evidence that improvements in recordkeeping over the years - particularly the advent of computers-have reduced the likelihood of a defective title going unnoticed in a property transaction. This title examines the ignored role that the federal and state governments play in perpetuating the title insurance industry's unfair practices.

"In this important and fascinating book, the authors expose a scam that has fleeced Americans of billions of their hard-earned dollars since World War II. The title insurance industry, they show, has captured its regulators, and imposed exceedingly high costs on American homebuyers by means of a cartel-like arrangement. If that arrangement can be broken, price gouging would end and all American homeowners would enjoy what Canadians and Iowans do-reasonably priced peace of mind."
-- Robert E. Wright, Stern School of Business, New York University