EXHIBIT (18)

May 13, 1999

To the Board of Directors
of The First American Financial Corporation

Dear Directors:

We have been furnished with a copy of The First American Financial Corporation's
(the Company) Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999. Note 2 therein 
describes a change in the method of recognizing revenue on tax service 
contracts. It should be understood that the preferability of one acceptable 
method of revenue recognition over another has not been addressed in any 
authoritative accounting literature and in arriving at our opinion expressed 
below, we have relied on management's business planning and judgment. Based upon
our discussions with management and the stated reasons for the change, we 
believe that such change represents, in your circumstances, the adoption of a 
preferable alternative accounting principle for revenue recognition for tax 
service contracts in conformity with Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 20.

We have not made an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing 
standards of the financial statements of The First American Financial 
Corporation for the three-month periods ended March 31, 1999 and 1998 and, 
accordingly, we express no opinion thereon or on the financial information filed
as part of the Form 10-Q of which this letter is to be an exhibit.

Yours very truly,

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP