News By Edition

Fannie Mae’s chief economist is forecasting growth in the country’s gross domestic product in 2020 fueled by labor market strength and consumer spending, with housing construction potentially becoming an engine of overall economic growth.

However, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Doug Duncan also believes tight housing supply and increasing mortgage demand likely will continue to increase home prices

Read on to learn more of what Duncan foresees for 2020.

Alliance Title and Escrow Corp. recently held its 8^th annual ‘Closing the Hunger Gap’ Food Drive.

Read on for more details.

Many companies in the title industry swear by SOC 2 certifications.  

However, title companies and underwriters should know that enhanced requirements by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) have made the audit examinations more challenging.

Read on to learn more about the new requirements, including a question that asks companies for evidence of subscriptions to industry related publications.

SoftPro has opened registration for its 21^st Annual User Group Conference scheduled for April 15-17 at the La Cantera Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas.

Read on for more details.

Two months after releasing a group senior vice president, Stewart Information Services Corp.’s group president has left the company, the company announced.

The latest Stewart departing executive joined the company in 2017 as chief corporate development officer, and in short order had his responsibilities expanded to include providing strategic oversight to the company’s U.S. direct operations.

Read on for more details about Stewart’s latest C-Suite change. 

A survey of small-business owners found they are split when it comes to the issue of raising the minimum wage.

A majority of respondents said an increase in the minimum wage would impact their businesses, with more than half of the business owners predicting a higher minimum wage would hurt their business.

Read on for more details from the survey.

Phoenix-based Landmark Title Assurance Agency has expanded its team with the addition of a vice president of escrow operations and a commercial escrow officer.

Read on for more details.

Compass has expanded its operations in California by absorbing the principal agents at CSR Real Estate Services in San Jose along with more than 40 of its agents.

Read on for more details.

Guaranteed Rate has named a senior vice president of mortgage lending.

Read on for more details.

During the third quarter, 47 states plus the District of Columbia produced increases in written title premiums, according to an analysis from the American Land Title Association.

ALTA CEO Diane Tomb said the association expects 2019 to finish strong “with continued refinance activity and commercial business, while residential transactions remain steady.”

Read on to learn more details from ALTA’s third-quarter analysis.

Knight Barry Title has opened an additional office in Florida, the company announced.

The new office is located in Sanibel and will serve the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. Knight Barry now has five offices in the Sunshine State.

Read on to learn who the company has selected to staff its latest office in Florida.

Lancaster, Pa.-based Conestoga Title Insurance Co. will deploy Qualia’s Assure suite of products, the companies announced.

Conestoga President John Nikolaus said Qualia’s products will help his company create a competitive differentiator, and will enable its agents to “deliver a vastly superior digital experience.”

Read on to learn what Qualia CEO Nate Baker said about the collaboration.

North American Title Insurance Co. has hired a state agency manager to oversee agency operations in Louisiana.

Read on for more details.

The markets with the largest share of iBuyers in the third quarter were Raleigh, N.C.; Phoenix; Atlanta; and Charlotte, N.C.

Read on for more details.

Howard Hanna has acquired an independent Realtor with two offices and more than 50 agents in northwest Ohio.

Read on for more details.

A well-known banking and finance veteran who is a vice chairman of the Carlyle Group and former CEO of BankUnited has joined States Title as an advisor.

States Title CEO Max Simkoff said the company will leverage the industry veteran’s experience with banking, finance and legislation at institutions with sizable lending arms to identify and fix the problems of the traditional residential mortgage process.

Read on for more details about the hiring.

CATIC has released a new search-integration platform that replaces the desktop application previously used by its agents and title searchers, the company announced.

The new system has been deployed in Florida and parts of Connecticut, and soon will be available in all of CATIC’s offices that offer title services.

Read on for more details.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has joined with more than 40 other business groups in opposing legislation it said threatens small-business privacy and is unnecessarily burdensome.

Provisions of the legislation would require small businesses to collect ownership information that previously has been collected under the Bank Secrecy Act by large banks – organizations that have the staffing and expertise to handle the reporting requirements.

Read on for more details of the legislation and the federation’s opposition.

Agents National Title Insurance Co. has appointed Candi Slobodnik as its Midwest underwriting counsel.

Read on for more details.

A Freddie Mac survey of Generation Z reveals that demographic has a more positive perception of homeownership than millennials held at the same age.

Read on for more details.

Stewart Information Services has selected a company veteran who currently leads its international operations and commercial services to also lead its domestic direct operations.

CEO Fred Eppinger said the new leader of Stewart’s domestic direct operations “is the right leader at this pivotal moment in Stewart’s history.”

Read on to learn more about who Stewart selected for this pivotal position.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Closed Title is partnering with EXIT Realty Southeast/Florida to provide the latter’s 3,500 agents with access to its online platform.

Closed Title founder and CEO Devan Spinelli said the partnership makes perfect sense as “both of our companies are experiencing momentous growth and our services are in higher demand than ever.”

Read on for more details.

Thirty percent of small-business owners reported raising compensation, and more than a quarter said they plan to do so in the coming months, which the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said was the highest level since December 1989.

However, small-business owners surveyed said finding qualified workers was their top problem.

Read on for more details from NFIB’s latest survey.

loanDepot has named a chief information and technology officer.

Read on for more details.

Forseti Real Estate Services in January will change its name to TFG Property Reports, or TFG Reports for short.

Read on for more details.

Cloudstar has hired a senior ResWare administrator.

Read on for more details.

After a strong response to the October Research 20th Anniversary Sweepstakes, we now reveal the winners, including the winner of our complimentary registration to the 2020 National Settlement Services Summit.

Read on for more.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Reli Settlement Solutions, LLC has expanded its Alabama footprint with the opening of a new branch in Homewood, the company announced.

Reli CEO Kent Stewart called Homewood one of the hottest real estate markets in Alabama. He said the new office will provide a real competitive advantage.

Read on to learn who will staff the company’s newest branch office.

The largest independently-owned real estate firm in Florida will provide Lone Wolf Technologies’ enterprise platform to its more than 50 offices and 3,600 sales associates, the company announced.

The Keyes Family of Companies, which includes in-house title company HomePartners Title Services, said the platform is one-of-a-kind and provides a faster and simpler experience for real estate transactions.

Read on for more details.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. has hired a Midwest regional manager.

Read on for more details.

Clear Title Agency of Arizona has expanded its staff with the hiring of a vice president and a commercial escrow officer.

Read on for more details.

Knight Barry Title Co. has expanded its Florida footprint with the acquisition of a title agency with offices in Destin and Panama City Beach, the company announced.

Knight Barry has acquired three agencies in Florida this year. The other two acquired title agencies had offices in Pensacola and Crestview.

Read on to learn more about Knight Barry’s latest acquisition.

A New Jersey title agency has launched an AI-integrated title settlement processing system that it said provides greater reporting, enhanced security and increased communication.

The company said its new system provides clients on-demand access to their file at any time and status updates directly via text, increasing the communication flow by 25 percent.  

Read on for more details.

Independent lender Guild Mortgage recently announced changes to its executive leadership team, including the promotion of three senior members and two regional executives.

President and CEO Mary Ann McGarry said the changes were needed, as Guild expects to end 2019 with $20 billion in originations and more than $50 billion in servicing, both record volumes.

Read on for more details.

First American Title Co. announced that it has funded and closed more than $1 billion of real estate transactions using FirstFunding’s FlexClose in less than one year.

Read on for more details.