News By Edition

Title companies that offer remote online notarizations (RON) expect those types of closings to increase, according to the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) 2022 Digital Closing Survey.

More than 60 percent of title professionals offering RON that ALTA polled said they believe the closing offering will increase over the next year.

Read on for more from the survey.

The title industry saw its net income jump 46 percent in 2021 to $2.3 billion, more than double the increase seen in 2020. However, according to an AM Best report, macroeconomic pressures in 2022 are expected to slow that growth going into 2023.

Despite the slowdown, the title segment should remain profitable, according to AM Best.

Read on for more from the report.

Stewart-owned fintech company Cloudvirga launched its wholesale third party origination (TPO) platform. Built in collaboration with mortgage professionals and brokers, it aims to provide a solution custom-built for their needs and operations.

The new TPO offering includes 24/7 borrower access to the platform, allowing brokers to make real-time changes, as well as easier eSigning of lender disclosures with automated compliance.

Read on for more.

Bank Shot received its Service Organizational Control (SOC) 2 compliance certification. The SOC 2 audit, administered by CPA firm Smith and Howard, included a thorough examination of Bank Shot’s policies, procedures and systems.

Becoming SOC 2 compliant was the next step in the company’s cybersecurity efforts, according to its CEO.

Read on for more details.

Florida-based Emerald Coast Title Services (ECTS) added a title agent to its Freeport, Fla., office. ECTS also added a title agent and Florida-registered paralegal to its Santa Rosa Beach office.

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PropLogix added a software business analyst with more than 30 years of title technology experience to its team. She began her title career mapping title plants and then moved into title production software.

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Home prices across the country continued to climb in August but at a significantly slower rate than in prior months, according to homegenius Home Price Index data. This marks the second consecutive month of slowing month-over-month appreciation.

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Title insurance search solution Action Title Research acquired Connecticut-based Legal Title Services, LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Legal Title Services will be integrated into Action Title Research’s SmartSearch workflow software as part of the AES platform, modernizing and automating its workflow while enhancing the client experience.

Read on for more details about the acquisition.

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) unveiled three new tools designed to help mortgage brokers through the closing process.

One of them, TRAC (Title Review and Closing), offers an alternative to the traditional title and closing process by removing the need for a lender title policy, reducing title and closing fees.

Read on for more about UWM’s new products.

LodeStar Software Solutions unveiled an integration with Stewart. The integration will allow users of LodeStar’s closing fee calculator to access the title and settlement fees of any Stewart-related company.

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Fidelity National Financial (FNF) named two co-presidents of western operations. That came after FNF’s chief operating officer and president of western operations decided to step back and assume a more flexible role within the company.

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Rising mortgage costs are driving down homebuying competition, and a market firmly in favor of buyers is expected before the end of next year. Those are some of the predictions made by a majority of economists and housing experts polled by Zillow.

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Washington-state based AEGIS Land Title Group acquired Capital Title of Washington, a title and escrow provider in the Seattle area based out of Dallas. Most of the Capital Title staff is staying on.

The AEGIS Land Title Group has 14 branches that serve Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Mason, Kitsap and Jefferson counties.

Read on for more about the acquisition.

AM Best affirmed the financial strength rating of “A” (excellent) and the long-term issuer credit ratings (long-term ICR) of “a” (excellent) for First American Title Insurance Co. and its title affiliates.

In addition, AM Best affirmed the long-term ICR of “bbb” (good) for parent holding company First American Financial Corp. The outlook of these credit ratings is stable.

Read on for more.

Indecomm launched its next-generation version of its loan quality control technology, AuditGenius. The upgraded version leverages the company’s “Genius” tech stack to help AuditGenius users meet QC requirements while reducing the need for manual reviews.

The updated AuditGenius is available for pre-fund audits. Indecomm plans to roll out new features to the remaining review types in the system.

Read on for more.

CATIC is now licensed in Alabama and has begun operations there. The CATIC Family of Companies is licensed in every state east of the Mississippi and in Texas.

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EMM Loans partnered with homeownership platform SimpleNexus. The partnership will streamline its homebuyer experience, attract new business and drive referrals from real estate professionals, according to EMM Loans.

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Housing affordability continued its decline in July, according to First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming. Also, most of the top 50 markets tracked by First American remained undervalued in July, some significantly.

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Stewart Information Services Corp. acquired Rockville, Md.-based FNC Title Services, LLC, a title and settlement company specializing in reverse mortgage closings. Stewart also signed an agreement to acquire FNC Title of California, pending approval of the California Department of Insurance.

FNC will continue operating as a standalone company.

Read on for more about the acquisitions.

Old Republic Title acquired the operating assets of Houston-based Veritas Title Partners, L.P. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The president of Old Republic Title said Veritas Title Partners’ employees will be retained, and Veritas chief financial officer and founding partner said customers will benefit from the technological resources that Old Republic provides.

Read on for more.

TitleVest, a member of the First American family of companies, has been selected as one of CondoTek’s preferred title insurance providers within its new title portal designed to streamline the condo closing process.

Lenders and borrowers within the CondoTek network can now order title directly from TitleVest earlier in the transaction process.

Read on for more.

Washington state-based Whatcom Land Title Co. opened its fourth branch in Ferndale, Wash. Whatcom’s title manager will be the Ferndale branch manager.

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Snapdocs completed its integration with BeSmartee. The integrated solution employs machine learning to automate and streamline the borrower’s closing document review and signature steps.

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Median-priced homes remained less affordable in the third quarter than historical averages in 99 percent of the counties analyzed by ATTOM. However, relief may be on the way, according to ATTOM’s U.S. Home Affordability Report.

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The title industry generated $6.21 billion in title insurance premiums during the second quarter, down from $6.54 billion year-over-year, according to the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) recent market share analysis.

For the first six months of the year, title premium volume was nearly flat compared with the first six months of 2021.

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DocuSign plans to reduce its current workforce by 9 percent, according to a restructuring plan filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 26. DocuSign’s LinkedIn profile indicates it has 8,621 employees.

The layoff announcement comes a week after the company announced its board of directors named a new CEO, effective Oct. 10.

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Mid-Atlantic title and settlement services provider Community Title Network (CTN) announced its expansion into Ohio and the industry veteran who will be leading the initiative, focusing on acquisitions throughout the state.

Since 2016, CTN executed five successful acquisitions in the Mid-Atlantic region and combined it with organic growth to expand to 24 current locations.

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Digital earnest money service Earnnest released a new portal for escrow-holding businesses to collect earnest money deposits directly from the homebuyer without relying on a real estate agent to send the earnest payment request.

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Land Services USA, Inc. added a commercial title coordinator in the firm’s Maryland office. She will be responsible for processing and coordinating large commercial transactions throughout the region.

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Just over 4 in 10 Redfin home offers (44.6 percent) faced competition in August, down from 63.5 percent a year ago. It marks the seventh straight monthly decline.

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WFG announced its technology subsidiary, Williston Enterprise Solutions and Technology (WEST), is changing its name to MyHome.

WEST launched the MyHome platform in 2015. The company said it is rebranding to begin the next stage of its mission to transform the real estate experience by building, acquiring and partnering with industry technology solutions.

Read on for more about the rebranding initiative.

CertifID launched PayoffProtect, designed to help title, escrow and settlement companies by preventing wire transfers from title companies to lenders from being sent to fraudsters.

The product is coming out of a beta period where it was tested by Knight Barry Title, Continental Title Co. and Bluegrass Land Title.

Read on for more about the new product.

Visionet Systems announced its AtClose title production system launched a new consumer portal that enables real-time collaboration and visibility between the borrower and all major parties involved in the transaction.

The portal’s secure, digital workspace allows title companies, sellers, borrowers and real estate agents to manage the closing process by quickly sending, signing, and storing documents, contracts and other agreements.

Read on for more.

Texas-based Patten Title Co. named an area vice president, senior escrow officer for is South Austin branch. She has more than 20 years of experience in the title industry.

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Imersion GIS added a “view-in-map” feature to its plat aggregation platform, CountyPlatMaps.com. It was the most-requested feature, according to the company president.

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Seasonally adjusted new listings of homes for sale fell 8 percent from July to August to their lowest level since May 2020, according to a Redfin report. Mortgage rates climbed from 5 percent at the beginning of August to 6 percent by the end of the month, pushing many homebuyers out of the market.

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Digital payment solution provider DirecFunds named a 20-year real estate services veteran to its board of directors. Much of his experience focused on the closing and settlement phase of the mortgage transaction.

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Fewer homes were flipped in the second quarter than in the first quarter, according to an ATTOM report. However, the gross profit on typical transactions was up 10 percent both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.

Read on for more.