complete loss?

[Rob Gillespie]

Recently a buddy of mine had a fire in a vacant home. It was not that bad, but never the less, he maxed out his insurance policy. There was not replacement cost on it.
Here is the questionable part. They paid the maximum amount, and now tell him the house is theirs, to get the check, he has to deed it over. I have seen this happen with cars, but not houses. Has this happened to anyone else out there?
Last question, if you have seen it happen, how do they dispose of these properties? I plan on calling them up tomorrow, but I doubt insurance companies have an REO department! LOL!