In the past, title insurance companies provided golf clubs,trips to Las Vegas and other lavish gifts to real estate brokers inreturn for business. Old Republic's gifts were a little moreeducational.

Old Republic, which has several Bay Area, was fined for spendingmore than $540,000 on 4,086 computer training classes for realestate agents and printing and publishing $226,000 worth of realestate booklets that were given away for free to agents to pass onto clients.

Scott Edelen, deputy commissioner with the Department ofInsurance, says the department began receiving numerous complaintsin 1998 from consumers, other title insurance companies and realestate agents that were concerned about the business practices ofOld Republic Title Co. A formal Department of Insurance complaintagainst the company was issued in October 2000 that culminated withone of the largest fines in the history of the department.