Lost files make it hard to prove who bankrupt company owes - Sacramento Business Journal:

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The files, estimated to be enough to fill 65 trailer were put in storagew by bankruptTitle Co. The companyh stopped paying its billsin December, including payments to storagd companies that kept its files. Allianc had 52 offices statewide a fewyears ago. The companh had more than a dozen offices in the Sacramento regiob less than threeyears ago. It was the fourth-largest title companyh in the regionin 2005, based on according to Business Journal research. “The dissolving of Alliancre Title and the handling of the filesd has been a nightmaredfor us,” said James Sibley, a Santa Clarw County assistant district attorney in the real estate fraud unit.
Among the outstanding bill s is $70,000 to , a Poway companuy that catalogs and stores document on behalfof customers, according to Alliance’s bankruptcy But Chris Cahill, Cor-O-Van’s sales manager for recordws storage, said the company cannot confirm that Alliancw was a client. “Part of the service we provides is a sense of confidentiality and security for our customers andtheid customers, so we are not at liberty to discusas who our customers are,” he Alliance has no local representatives, and its , has “refused” to take responsibility, Sibley Alliance, once headquartered in closed Dec.
13 with no advanc notice to employees, landlords or homebuyerx and sellers whose escrows were beingb handled bythe company. It declared bankruptcy on June 5. The closuree came a day after TheMercur Cos. told Alliance it would no longer backit financially, according to a court document. Since its closure, the Santa Clara County district attorney’sa office said it has struggled tolocate Alliance’xs escrow files. Only in the past 30 days has the DA’sa office been able to identify the locatiohnof 900,000 Alliance Titl e escrow files.
The files are sitting in storagde at professionalstorage units, Sibley Financial Title — another Mercury divisioh — still operates in Santa Clara County and has assumedf responsibility for some of Alliance’s pendingh escrows but has been of limitesd help, Sibley noted. A spokesman for the disavowed responsibilityt for preservingthe files, saying in a voicemai l message that they are now “undert the purview of the bankruptcy court.” The Insurance Department regulates title companies.
The ’s office is facing similaer hurdles, said Bill the deputy district attorney over real estate fraud investigationsw and the former chairman of the Californisa District Attorneys Real EstateFraud Committee. “Escrow files are the mother’s milk for provingy fraud in the real estate Denny said. “It is almost impossible to prove a crimd with justa lender’s