A 1031 tax deferred exchange allows an owner of an investment property to sell that property and reinvest the proceeds in a similar type property of equal or greater value without having to pay capital gains tax. (Capital gains are deferred until the next time the property is sold).  Often, the closing of the sold property and the purchase of the replacement property are not concurrent and in order to defer the taxes, the use of an accommodator is necessary.  The accommodator is a third party which holds the proceeds from the sold property.  Obviously, the Accommodator should be bonded and insured. 


The merger appears to be off; LandAmerica 1031 Exchange Services Company, Inc. (LES) and its parent company, LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. (LandAmerica) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  It is rumored that Land America's exchange clients might have difficulty in obtaining their money. A portion of their money may be  invested in illiquid Auction Rate Securities; it appears that at present  there are very few buyers for these type of investments.

And on another note, I just spoke to a Los Angeles title company customer service rep, who told me that nearly 90% of their support staff has been laid off in the last year.  But this is not all due to the housing slow down, they enjoyed a surge in business due to the refi boon.