2 parties in lawsuit over Star City Title ask for complaints to be dismissed

Two parties, both named as defendants in a civil dispute involving a Roanoke title company, this week filed replies to accusations and have also asked that complaints against them be dismissed.

The company in question, Star City Title, has until recently served as a local representative of Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. and First American Title Insurance Co. But over the past several weeks, those two entities have claimed that about $589,000 in funds Star City Title was responsible for appear to be unaccounted for.

On Monday, both Star City’s co-owner, Roy Creasy, and StellarOne Bank, which handles an escrow account held by the company, filed papers in Roanoke Circuit Court addressing the companies’ complaints.

Demurrers filed by Creasy, who is also Star City Title’s secretary and treasurer, argue that the complaints don’t identify a specific party responsible for the shortage and don’t allege that he was in a position to supervise employees. Creasy has, through his filings, joined both plaintiffs’ requests for an accounting.

Citing Creasy’s history as a Roanoke lawyer, Judge William Broadhurst filed an order of disqualification this week and asked the state Supreme Court to appoint a judge from outside the 23rd Judicial Circuit when the case is ultimately heard in Roanoke.

StellarOne Bank’s answer to the complaints acknowledged that it maintains a trust account for Star City Title, but denied knowledge of the allegations in the case.

Star City Title’s other owner, Janet Crosswhite, earlier this month submitted to the court a notice from a Carilion Clinic physician that said she “is not able to work at her profession or answer legal questions due to memory loss and other sequelae of recent encephalitis.”

Fidelity National and First American have alleged that funds were determined to be missing at the end of July, and have since claimed that policies and deposits have been mishandled. On Aug. 1, they terminated Star City Title as one of their policy-issuing agencies, and a police spokesman said the incident came under investigation on Aug. 6.

Late last month, the companies’ accounts were frozen “to maintain the status quo, pending a full evidentiary hearing,” according to a temporary injunction granted by a Roanoke judge.

Last week, attorneys for Fidelity National filed requests in Roanoke Circuit Court for information related to the case — including account statements, electronic data, emails and telephone logs — from 32 Virginia banks and credit unions.

Another Roanoke title company, Star City Title & Settlement, is not connected with or involved in this dispute.

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