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Title profits highest since 2002
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
During the second quarter of 2018, the title industry produced its highest quarterly profits in 16 years, according to an analysis from the American Land Title Association (ALTA).
Through the first six months of the year, the industry has generated slightly more in title insurance premiums than it did one year ago.
Read on for more details from ALTA’s latest Market Share Analysis.
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Fidelity partners with Blockchain startup
Posted Date: Thursday, September 13, 2018
Fidelity National Title has formed a strategic alliance with the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in the U.S. to combine the tax advantages of investing in a REIT with Blockchain technology.
The initial focus of the alliance will be the purchase and sale of multi-family, office space and mixed-use commercial real estate in the Chicago area.
Read on for more details about the strategic alliance.
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Stewart completes eClosing in Minnesota
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Stewart recently completed its first real estate eClosing in Minnesota, the company announced.
Stewart said the lender and title closing documents were executed electronically through Pavaso’s eClosing platform. Fairway Independent Mortgage in Bloomington, Minn. was the lender.
Read on to learn what executives from both Stewart and Fairway had to say about working with each other.
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Howard Hanna, Allen Tate merger joins title companies
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and the North Carolina-based Allen Tate Companies have merged, creating a unified company with more than 11,000 agents and employees in 326 offices across nine states.
The merged company will join each company’s affiliated title insurance companies – Barristers Title and Escrow Services and Master Title Agency. The company also becomes the top residential real estate producer in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and the Carolinas.
Read on to learn what executives from both companies had to say about the merger.
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Beige Book: Low demand, inventories softening home sales
Posted Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
Home sales in many areas of the nation softened through August, spurred by both reduced demand and low inventories, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book.
Bank contacts from the Fed’s 12 districts also reported that commercial real estate construction was mixed, while sales and leasing activity expanded modestly.
Read on for more details from the Fed’s latest look at economic conditions across the country.
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HomePartners Title acquires Florida agency
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
The in-house title company for South Florida-based The Keyes Co. has purchased another Florida title agency.
Terms of HomePartners Title Services’ acquisition of Jupiter, Fla.-based Title Network Inc. were not disclosed.
A HomePartners executive said the acquisition will help the company continue to make strides in the residential market. Read on for more details
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Texas title company acquires three agencies
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
A Texas-based title company which covers more than 100 counties in three states has added three additional companies to its roster.
The acquired companies have title plants in 81 counties in Texas and nine in New Mexico. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Please read on to learn what each of the various parties involved in the deal had to say.
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New Jersey agency expands through acquisition
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
An independent title insurance company headquartered in Marlton, N.J., with19 locations serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania, has expanded with its acquisition of another agency in New Jersey.
Both companies said the acquisition would benefit their customers by offering greater value through combining resources.
Read on to learn about the companies involved and what their executives had to say about the deal.
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TitleSmart expands commercial closing department
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Minnesota-based TitleSmart, Inc. has expanded its Commercial Real Estate Closing Department and announced who will lead its commercial division.
The company said expanding the department will help it increase its market share in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region.
The executive selected to lead the company’s commercial operations has worked in the land title insurance industry since 1984. Read on for learn more.
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Vantage Point selects Pavaso
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Clearwater, Fla.-based Vantage Point Title has selected Pavaso’s eClosing platform to conduct digital closings, the companies announced.
Vantage Point said its partnership with Pavaso will enable the company to collaborate with other stakeholders to create a streamlined eClosing process.
Read on to learn why Vantage Point President and CEO Robert Jackson said Pavaso was the right choice for his company.
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Florida independent going social to reach clients
Posted Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
An independent Florida title company is using a social media platform to stay connected with clients and to attract new ones.
The company’s founder and CEO said Instagram is a great way to pass along insurance tips and secrets to people involved in real estate transactions.
Read on to learn why the CEO believes Instagram is a great way to market his services.
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BC Law selects Pavaso for eClosings
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Florida-based BC Law has selected Pavaso’s platform to conduct digital closings for its lender and agent clients, the company announced.
BC Law said its partnership with Pavaso makes it one of a very few eClosing providers in states such as Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont that require attorney settlements.
Read on for more details about the partnership.
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Ernst offering fee calculator to title companies
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Ernst’s Smart Query fee calculator now is available to title and settlement companies on a white-labeled basis.
This new offering will allow settlement agents to place self-branded calculators on their website and quote their own title premiums and settlement fees with guaranteed accuracy to any lender who requests it.
Read on for more details.
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Anderson Biro adds staffing division
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Anderson Biro, LLC has added an Ohio-based staffing division that will service clients needing contract and temporary-to-permanent placements.
Read on for more details.
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Economists: Job gains neutralizing interest hikes
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
The Federal Reserve’s Board decision to raise short-term interest rates for the third time this year is not likely to derail the housing market, as jobs gained in the strengthening economy are neutralizing rate hikes, according to some economists.
Economists from First American and the National Association of Realtors believe home sales will remain steady despite rising rates.
Read on to learn more of what the economists are saying about the latest rate hike.
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System slow? You might be hacked
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
A new report from McAfee spotlights a surge in crypto mining malware that began during the fourth quarter of last year and continued through the first half of 2018.
As a result, your network might operate more slowly with no other visible signs of having been hacked. And as hackers continue search for new ways to penetrate systems, some have adapted and repurposed the vulnerabilities exploited in the WannaCry and NotPetya outbreaks of 2017.
Read on for more details from McAfee’s latest report.
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Qualia launches notary platform
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Qualia has introduced a new platform that provides title and escrow agents with notary services from the company’s nationwide network of verified professional notaries.
The company said “Notary by Qualia” will offer notary services built into a secure title, escrow, and closing software platform.
Read on to learn more about Qualia’s latest offering.
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Freddie approves Docutech’s eClose platform
Posted Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
Lenders now are able to use Docutech’s Solex eClose to originate and expedite delivery of eMortgages to the largest secondary loan purchasers.
Read on for more details.
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Mortgage Cadence integrates LoanBeam
Posted Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
A new integration helps Mortgage Cadence customers eliminate hours of manual document review, accelerate time to close, and provide systematic income calculation and verification for self-employed borrowers.
Read on for more details.
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Holler Law migrates management system to Virtustream
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Connecticut-based Holler Law Firm has migrated its on-premises business process management system to the cloud with the Virtustream Enterprise Cloud, the companies announced.
Holler said it selected Virtustream because it is the only solution that provides the ability to scale quickly and securely with full disaster recovery capabilities and instant access to all documents that are updated in real-time.
Read on for more details about this change.
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SoftPro integrates Attorneys Title
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
SoftPro has integrated Attorney Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. (ATGF) into its business exchange platform, the companies announced.
The integration will enable mutual clients to generate ATGF closing protection letters, commitments and policies from within SoftPro’s platform.
It also enables SoftPro customers to request and receive underwriting approval through ATGF’s EPIC software. Read on for more details.
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Record number of home sellers drop listing price
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
The percentage of home sellers who reduced their price during a four-week period ending Sept. 16 is the highest level on record since 2010.
Read on for more details from Redfin’s analysis.
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Stewart names director of client learning
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
Stewart Title has appointed an underwriting counsel and director of client learning to support independent agents in the Southeast.
Read on for more details.
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Loan defects rise slightly
Posted Date: Monday, October 1, 2018
The frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in mortgage loan applications increased slightly during August.
Read on for more details from the First American Loan Application Defect Index.
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Percentage of refinances increased in August
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018
For the first time in 2018, the percentage of closed refinances increased during August.
Read on for more details from Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report.
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First American: Housing market continues to underperform
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
First American’s chief economist said the housing market continued to underperform during August.
Read on for more information from the latest First American Potential Home Sales Model.
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Homeowners migrating away from expensive cities
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
People in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles searched most often for homes in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami during the second quarter of 2018.
Read on for more information from Redfin’s latest Migration Report.
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First American Mortgage launches equiRisk
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
First American Mortgage Solutions, LLC has launched a user-friendly data information report designed to help lenders reduce risk, stay compliant, and accelerate closings.
Read on for more details.
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ALTA urges passage of GUIDE Act
Posted Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
The American Land Title Association is urging the full House to pass a bipartisan bill that would require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue useful guidance regarding the financial laws it regulates.
One of the bill’s sponsors said the bureau “is the epicenter of complaints about compliance when guidance is issued.”
Read on for more details about the bill.
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Refinances drop to four-year low
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
The number of second-quarter mortgage refinances was the lowest since the first quarter of 2014.
Read on for more information from ATTOM Data Solutions’ Residential Property Loan Origination Report.
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Stewart names sales manager
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Stewart Title has named a sales manager to oversee its Oklahoma sales organization.
Read on for more details.
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Alliant National hires agency rep
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Alliant National Title Insurance Co. has hired an agency support representative for Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Read on for more details.
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CoreTitle hires vice president
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
CoreTitle LLC has hired a vice president for its Florida division.
Read on for more details.
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