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The key to thriving in 2012 might be to diversify. Sticking with the traditional purchase and refinance business might not be enough to keep the doors open, but as presenters on a recent October Research Webinar pointed out, there are other opportunities in the market if you look for them. Read on for part two in this series, where we look at the growing opportunity that exists at credit unions and local banks.

The Market Snapshot for October, brought to you by The Title Report and eLynx, shows that closing activity during the month was incredibly similar to that of September in terms of regional breakout. Continue on to view the regional map.

The key to thriving in 2012 might be to diversify. Sticking with the traditional purchase and refinance business might not be enough to keep the doors open, but as presenters on a recent October Research Webinar pointed out, there are other opportunities in the market if you look for them. Part one of our two part series on 2012 strategies looks at the distressed market and the many different ways your title agency can get in on this business.

CoreLogic's chief economist, Dr. Mark Fleming will be presenting a comprehensive economic outlook for the title insurance industry in a Webinar on Thursday. Read on for more information about the Webinar and the 2012 economic forecast.

Lenders often mention the importance of customer service at the closing table, in terms of demeanor and quickness on the part of the title agent, but a recent white paper produced by the nation’s largest lender stressed the importance of the title agent acting as the last line of fraud detection. 

“The Last Line of Defense to Prevent Mortgage Fraud,” written by Patrick Aliano, senior vice president of Mortgage Fraud Prevention for Bank of America Home Loans, noted that being the “last line of defense” is a heavy burden to place on a closing agent, especially because at that point, a potential scheme has bypassed all of the lender’s own controls.

“In today’s age, most mortgage loan transactions processed and approved by lenders never involve meeting the borrower face to face, so the lender never has the opportunity to obtain a copy of any identification in the process,” Aliano stated. “The last line of defense in a typical origination loan, especially for preventing identity theft, is the closing settlement agent and notary.”

The white paper listed several common red flags for closing, settlement and title professionals to watch for:

CentRealTech Inc. announced a new division to provide services associated with processing foreclosure-related title insurance products. This service is currently available for all locations within California, but will soon include other states too, the company said. Read on for more about what this solution offers.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the creation of a joint task force to combat scams targeted at homeowners seeking to apply for the Home Affordable Modification Program.

Title insurance premiums in the third quarter were down nearly 5 percent compared to the third quarter of 2010, according to the latest report from the American Land Title Association. Read on for a closer look at the data, including which regional underwriters picked up the most market share year to date.

The 2011 Third Quarter Market Share Analysis shows the title industry generated $2.35 billion in total third quarter premium compared to $2.47 billion in Q3 2010. However, year-to-date numbers are slightly up, with the first nine months of 2011 edging 2010 by a narrow $32.6 million.

Fidelity National Financial company ServiceLink, an origination and default solutions provider for many of the country’s top mortgage lenders and servicers, announced the appointment of a new president. Read on for more.

Of all industry segments, it could be argued that homebuilders have had it the worst since the bubble burst. Foreclosures and REOs, while not optimal business by any means, can still lead to work for lenders, Realtors and title agents. For homebuilders, it’s all steeply discounted competition and inventory that oversaturates the market. Read on for the market data and housing forecast from a National Association of Home Builders Webinar.

The October Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services Inc. shows mortgage delinquencies continued their decline, now nearly 30 percent off their January 2010 peak, but foreclosure inventories have reached an all-time high. Read on for more information from this latest report.

A closer in a large mortgage fraud scheme avoided prison time after pleading guilty a year ago. This scheme involved about 200 properties and mortgage proceeds of about $35 million. Read on for more details about the scheme and the court sentence.

Stewart Information Services had been laying low about its next steps after the changes to its executive team, but the company’s newest chief executive officer took the stage at the FBR Capital Markets’ Fall Investor Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York to discuss the current position and growth prospects for the company. Read on to see what he had to say.

Avenue 365 Lender Services announced a new vice president of business development for its origination services division to take over sales leadership for Avenue’s existing business development team, and will significantly grow that team over the next year. Read on for more details.

RedVision hired a director of sales for the Mid-Atlantic region who has extensive experience in sales and marketing, management and title plant systems, which makes him a good fit for RedVision as it expands its Mid-Atlantic presence. Read on for more information.

RealtyTrac has obtained a substantial capital investment from Renovo Capital LLC through the private equity firm’s Renwood Opportunities Fund. RealtyTrac said this infusion will provide the capital necessary to fund growth and nurture expansion into untapped areas of the market. Read on for more.

Adeptive Software has brought on Terri Hanson as vice president, strategic planning. Adeptive Software is the developer of the title, escrow, settlement and real estate software ResWare. Read on for more.

TSS Software Corp. promoted three staff members alongside a new addition to its business development team. The company also noted its plans to continue growing its team. Read on for more from the announcement.

Oral arguments for First American v. Denise P. Edwards were presented before the Supreme Court on Nov. 28. The Court is going to decide whether someone needs to show an injury in fact in order to have standing under Article III. Both sides presented their arguments and were grilled by the justices. Read on for what transpired during the arguments.

The financial results from the third quarter of this year indicate that title insurance underwriters are stabilizing across the country, according to the latest report from Demotech. The company noted that underwriters reported approximately $3 billion in policyholders’ surplus, which is a 2.9 percent increase over Dec. 31, 2010. Read of for more analysis from Demotech and list of title insurer ratings as of Sept. 30.

The title insurance industry is far from out of the economic woods, but Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook upward because the uncertainty surrounding the loss experience has diminished in its view. Read on for more from the ratings company’s analysis.

Toll Brothers Inc., a luxury homebuilder, announced its entry into the Seattle market through the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and operations of CamWest Development LLC, one of the largest privately held homebuilding companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Mortgage applications decreased 1.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, but purchase activity picked up more than eight percent, reaching its highest level since August. Read on for more from this week’s numbers.

Existing-home sales improved in October while the number of homes on the market continued to decline, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Read on for a look at the monthly data.

Lender Processing Services Inc. reported its "first look" at October 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans.

Urban Lending Solutions, a provider of premier residential and commercial mortgage products and services, announced the promotion of a new president from his position as chief strategy officer. Read on for more information.  

WFG National Title Insurance Co.’s Default Services group added an associate vice president and operation manager. Read on for more information about the addition. 

The problems the title industry had with Freddie Mac’s short sale affidavit might be over. In its Nov. 18 Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide, Freddie Mac made amendments to those short sale affidavit requirements that should lessen the liability the previous requirements imposed on settlement agents — making them party to the transaction and assuring everything was at arm’s length.

Interthinx released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report covering data collected in the third quarter of 2011. Read on for information from the report.

Stewart Title Guaranty Co. announced that a vice president and Florida underwriting counsel was recently honored with the Raymond O. Denham award for his work in the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA). Read on for more.

Polls on www.TheTitleReport.com and various title insurance message boards often paint a less than favorable picture of notary signing services. The negative comments or general concerns usually center on communication on the notary’s end. Are they going to be there on time? The Title Report spoke with Burt Campbell, chief executive officer of MortgageDocs, about the debut of SignSTAT Mobile, a mobile application that notaries can use to instantly communicate to all parties involved in a transaction.

Total Title Solutions, a full service title company, has created a title company iPad app in Florida to help real estate agents, mortgage brokers, banks and others track the closing process from wherever they are. Read on for more about this newest mobile solution.

In two consecutive months, homebuilders have shown a three point increase in their confidence, according to a report from the National Association of Home Builders. Read on for a closer look at the numbers, including the confidence by region.

What activities have today’s title agents taken electronic? That’s the question a title production software company looked to answer with its latest user survey. The results show electronic document sharing and customer communication were the biggest hits while mobile technology is still near the bottom of priorities. Read on for the rest of the results.

Refinance activity dropped double digits just one week after a double-digit rise. Read on for the rest of the mortgage applications data from this week’s report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The robo-signing scandal originally broke in October 2010 and now more than a year later, two title officers employed by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) have been indicted by a Nevada grand jury alleging various robo-signing and forgery actions on tens of thousands of documents between 2005 and 2008. Read on for more information from the indictment and a statement from LPS.