Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. reportedly told its agents not to issue title insurance policies on properties foreclosed upon by GMAC Mortgage, according to sources. The company refused to answer any questions. Jodi Fredericksen, a spokesperson for Old Republic, said the company has a “policy of not speaking to the press.”

If it did, then buyers will not be able to close on those properties, real estate agents said.

Questions are mounting about the legitimacy of foreclosures in Florida courts and filing elsewhere.

Last week, GMAC Mortgage said it would stop throwing homeowners in default ouf of their houses and it would halt some sales until it can review the documents used in some of its foreclosure filings.

GMAC Mortgage is not commenting on Old Republic’s decision, said GMAC spokesman James Olecki.

This week, JP Morgan Chase said it would ask courts to halt some foreclosures because of questions it has about documents.

The review centers on whether the documents are accurate and whether they were presented to the court by someone who knew them to be true, which is what is required.

The questions surrounding the foreclosures could have both positive and negative effects on the housing market, lawyers and real estate agents say.

The immediate result is that thousands of foreclosures are being delayed, meaning the market won’t be flooded with these properties for resale. That, in turn, could help stabilize prices in the near term.

But Shari Olefson, a real estate lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, said this recent firestorm won’t suddenly reverse or eliminate foreclosures. The problem is a procedural one that doesn’t have anything to do with delinquent borrowers, she said.

“You still owe the money to someone,” said Olefson, who has represented banks and borrowers. “All the I’s will be dotted and T’s crossed, but we’re still going to have the same outcome. It’s just going to delay the process by a couple of months, and it’ll cost a lot more money. And we all know who’s going to pay those costs.”

Analysts worry that some borrowers may see this as an opportunity to stop paying their mortgages, figuring that lenders are too distracted to come after them. Some of these homeowners could abandon the properties, bringing vandals and squatters to neighborhoods that already have been hammered by the foreclosure crisis over the past several years.

“We can’t have total chaos with people trying to work the system and not paying their mortgages,” said Louis Spagnuolo, senior mortgage banker with WCS Lending in Boca Raton. “That would create a disaster.”

A mountain of lawsuits likely will be filed on behalf of clients alleging that they lost their homes to improper foreclosures. Those people will have a hard time getting the homes back, especially if they’ve been resold, but the homeowners still will be seeking damages, said Jerron Kelley, a foreclosure defense lawyer in Delray Beach.

Here's our story from this morning on the latest announcement, Chase shutting down its foreclosures.