News By Edition

One thing that has been a constant in the title industry over the past few years is change.

At this year’s National Settlement Services Summit (NS3), Knight Barry Title Group Chief Operating Officer Craig Haskins and Bowe Digital owner and Chief Inspiration Officer Wayne Stanley discussed the best ways for title companies to weather those changes and plan for the future.

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Doma Holdings appointed a chief financial officer (CFO). He was serving as the company’s chief accounting officer and acting CFO. He has more than 30 years of experience leading teams through IPOs, acquisitions other major public company transitions.

Former Doma CFO Noaman Ahmad stepped down in May.

Read on for more about the new appointment.

Virginia-based Mid-States Title appointed a 25-year industry veteran as the company’s president. She will lead Mid-States’ settlement companies and law firm affiliations.

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Home shoppers are finding more options, more time to make decisions and even some price cuts, according to Zillow. That’s because affordability challenges are thinning competition, giving leverage to those who remain.  

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When Rohit Chopra was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in October 2021, many in the title and mortgage industry expected a return to the aggressive stance akin to the bureau’s beginnings under Richard Cordray.

Considering the first eight months of the CFPB under Chopra, the pundits appear to have been correct.

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Stewart Information Services Corp. named a new president for its fintech company Cloudvirga, a digital mortgage automation company in the point-of-sale space.

She will lead Cloudvirga’s strategic growth and be responsible for technology investments, new products, brand awareness and enhancing the Stewart customer experience with end-to-end mortgage services and solutions.

Read on for more about the new president.

SoftPro released a new integration with Punctual Abstract for nationwide title abstracting services. The integration allows users of the SoftPro 360 business exchange platform to order title abstracts from Punctual Abstract directly through the platform.

Punctual Abstract offers a variety of property data reports including full abstracts, current owner, two owner, foreclosures, refinances and mortgage and assignment searches.

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Washington, D.C.-based Paragon Title named a new president. The current president officially assumed the title of founder.

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There were 164,581 foreclosure filings in the first six months of 2022, according to ATTOM. That’s up 153 percent year-over-year, but down 1 percent from the same period two years ago.

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A record 32.6 percent of Redfin.com users looked to move from one metro to another in the second quarter, according to Redfin report. That’s up slightly from 32.3 percent in the first quarter and from around 26 percent before the pandemic.

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Anywhere Real Estate Inc., formerly known as Realogy Holdings Corp., announced new naming conventions for its business units as part of its recent corporate rebrand. The company renamed its title group, franchise group and brokerage group.

The rebranding is part of Anywhere’s strategic plan to build a more frictionless and digitized homebuying and selling experience. 

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PropLogix has acquired TFG Property Reports, including its mobile notary network. All TFG Property Reports employees joined the PropLogix team.

Through the acquisition, PropLogix will make mobile notary services available to its customers, who will be able to schedule mobile signings on weekends, evenings and the same day in many cases.

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The president of West State Title Co. acquired The West State Family of Companies, which serves west central Illinois.

The company includes Morgan County Abstract Co., Menard County Abstract Co., Scott County Abstract Co., Cass County Abstract Co., Terrill Title Co., Lange Title Co. and West State Exchange, LLC.

Read on for more about the new owner.

Foundation Title & Escrow is opening a new office in Athens, Ala. The Limestone County office is the company’s third location in the state, along with its Huntsville and Orange Beach branches.

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Doma named an agency manager for central and southern Virginia. He will add to the company’s growing network across key areas of the state.

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In June, roughly 60,000 home-purchase agreements fell through, or 14.9 percent of homes that went under contract, according to Redfin. That’s the highest percentage since March and April 2020, when the housing market all but ground to a halt due to the pandemic.

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Privately held JM Family Enterprises, Inc., acquired Futura Title & Escrow LLC, the largest independent title and escrow group in the Pacific Northwest.

Futura, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is the parent company of Alliance Title & Escrow, AmeriTitle, Pacific Alliance Title and Kittitas Title and Escrow. Together, they offer title and escrow services for clients in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Wyoming.

Read on for more about the acquisition.

American Digital Title Insurance Co. received its certificate of authority from the California commissioner of insurance to underwrite title insurance in the Golden State, the second-largest title insurance market in the country in terms of premium volume, according to the American Land Title Association.

American Digital Title is now licensed to operate in 47 states.

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SoftPro released SoftPro Sign, a new product that has both eSign and remote online notarization (RON) functionality. It can be used for eSigning or for eSigning paired with RON.

All parties in a real estate transaction can securely sign and/or notarize documents online, creating seamless collaboration with the settlement agent, lender, Realtor, investor, and consumer.

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Qualia released a mortgage lender edition of Qualia Connect to its platform. The customizable loan origination system integration automates and standardizes how lenders collaborate with title partners.

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Doma Title Insurance named a 30-year industry veteran as vice president, mid-Atlantic regional underwriting counsel. She provides underwriting guidance and support to Doma title agents and attorneys in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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Virginia Beach-based Anchor Legal Group added an attorney to its team. He has years of experience in real estate transactions and title insurance.

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New Orleans-based Generes & Associates announced a partnership with AtClose to further the company’s ability to offer cloud-based title closing software to clients. The company said adding AtClose to its products and service offerings will allow it to continue meeting market demands and shifting customer requirements.

Generes will maintain its existing partnerships with software platforms.

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Fiffik Law Group launched Clover Lane Settlement Services, LLC, a real estate title agency offering statewide services across Pennsylvania. Based in Pittsburgh, Clover Lane offers services for residential purchases, commercial purchases and refinances.

Fiffik Law Group’s managing partner and chief operating officer teamed up to create Clover Lane, named after the street where the managing partner grew up.

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National Integrity Title Agency (NITA) expanded its footprint with the opening of a satellite office in Northfield, N.J. The new location will serve homeowners and Realtors from the Jersey Shore.

The new office is NITA’s seventh location, with other offices in the South Jersey and greater Philadelphia area.

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SoftPro released a new integration with BC Law. It enables sending and receiving closing services through the SoftPro 360 vendor portal.

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Title Alliance named a general manager of Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. She has more than 30 years of title industry experience in escrow, operation management and technical support.

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Millennials are the largest generation in U.S. history, and the majority turned 31 in 2021. Potential homeownership demand improved by 1.4 percentage points for millennials last year, the largest increase among their generational predecessors.

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Virginia-based MBH Settlement Group acquired District Title, a provider of title insurance services for residential, commercial, purchase and refinance transactions in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas.

The acquisition will strengthen MBH’s commercial and D.C. title and settlement services, according to the company, as District Title brings a team that handles commercial transactions.

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GainClients will expand its earnest money capture solution to Capital Title of Texas’ Dallas region. The service provides the ability to take a picture of an earnest money check and securely deposit it into a bank account.

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Real estate technology company Flueid’s SaaS platform Flueid Decision is now integrated with Resware.

This marks the second integration for Flueid with a title production system, embedding and delivering data, insights and underwriter-backed clearance decisions upfront in the title workflow to streamline the process and support a predictable transaction.

Read on for more about the integration.

Agents National Title Insurance Co. named an underwriting counsel. She will serve agents in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

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AmTrust Title Holding Co. named a senior vice president and regional sales manager for the national region. He has many years of experience in sales, marketing and advertising in the title insurance industry.

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In 2020 and 2021, purchases of second homes with high flood risk rose 45 percent from 2018-2019, according to Redfin. There also were increases in purchases of second homes with high storm risk (40 percent) and high heat risk (39 percent).

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California-based Legendary Escrow Services merged with Pickford Escrow Co., a HomeServices of America company.

Legendary Escrow Services is a multi-office firm with branches in Rancho Cucamonga, Rancho Cucamonga South, Anaheim Hills, Indian Wells, Murrieta and Palm Springs, Calif. Pickford Escrow Co. has 20 offices in southern California and around 90 employees.

Read on for more about the merger.

Florida-based CLOSED Title opened its newest office in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The location is a foothold in the Tennessee real estate market where the company plans to offer its tech platform.

CLOSED Title also recently partnered with real estate brokerage simpliHŌM and will offer direct instant digital commission payments to simpliHŌM agents, deepening their title and brokerage integration.

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Idaho-based Kootenai Title has expanded its operations, opening its second office. Bonner Title operates out of Sandpoint, Idaho. 

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Median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable in the second quarter compared with historical averages in 97 percent of counties across the country, according to ATTOM. That was up from 69 percent of counties in the second quarter of 2021, to the highest point since 2007.

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