News By Edition

Steven Day, president of national agency operations at Fidelity National Financial Family of Companies, reflected on his career in an interview with The Title Report as he prepares to retire at the end of the year.

Day, a past president of the American Land Title Association, touched on his favorite career memories as well as predictions for the future of title and real estate volume.

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Williston Financial Group subsidiary MyHome acquired a national provider of technology and marketing services for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders.

According to MyHome, the acquisition expands its solutions for mortgage lead generation, conversion and retention. Services from the newly acquired company will be available through WFG Enterprise Solutions.

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InspectHOA has partnered with GridBase to make HOA-focused (homeowners association) technology and services directly available to Resware users without needing to switch portals.

InspectHOA’s flagship HOA service helps title and escrow companies, underwriters, real estate attorneys, mortgage lenders and investors avoid the difficulties of dealing directly with HOAs in the closing process.

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East Texas-based RecordsOnline has announced a trio of promotions to fill key leadership roles as the company carries out national expansion plans.

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CATIC has released version 10.0 of its title order packaging system, reportedly including improvements to property search orders as well as enhanced integration between titleLOOK and Qualia.

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Housing affordability is expected to improve in 2024 as mortgage rates fall and more homes go up for sale, but Redfin reports that less than 16 percent of 2023 listings were affordable for the typical household.

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Blockchain technology is being used by the city of Baltimore for registration and tracking of vacant properties, the municipality recently announced.

Officials said use of a blockchain-based land recorder will reduce the costs of titling, allowing for titles to be certified and verified in one instance as opposed to the multiple transactions for a single property today.

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The title insurance industry saw a 24 percent drop in premiums compared with the same period in 2022, according to the American Land Title Association.

The group attributed the results to the high interest rates and low housing inventory that have caused a big drop in both home sales and mortgage refinances.

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Stewart subsidiary NotaryCam will begin offering remote online notarization (RON) transactions across California following the passage of CA Senate Bill 696.

Provisions of the bill are set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, allowing for use of RON by some notaries for transactions such as title and escrow documents in connection with California real property.

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Stewart Title has promoted a long-time employee to the position of senior operations manager for Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas direct operations.

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An enhanced integration between the Empower loan origination system and DocMagic added support for home equity and wholesale channels.

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West Chester, Pa., ranked as Zillow house shoppers’ favorite market of 2023, with many other Northeast communities rounding out 2023’s most popular areas.

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Numerous title insurance industry leaders took part in a group discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at ALTA ONE 2023, with Proper Title Chief Operating Officer Kathy Kwak leading the talk.

Personal experiences and challenges with DEI were discussed, along with strategies on creating a company culture that welcomes and celebrates diversity and how to educate underrepresented young people on the career opportunities in title insurance.

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Analysis from First American Financial Corp. finds that fees for title insurance and settlement services are well below those of other costs charged to borrowers over the life of the mortgage loan.

Research points to an inaccurate conclusion drawn from Fannie Mae’s 2021 study of borrower life-of-loan costs and details updates for better accuracy from Fannie Mae’s own updated research in 2022.

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Intercontinental Exchange’s MSP loan servicing system has added automated lien release functionality, the first product developed jointly with newly acquired Black Knight.

The new automated lien release capability integrated with MSP combines document creation and automated workflows into one solution and routes lien release packages for eSigning and eRecording.

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The Clearing House, operator of the RTP Network, has appointed a new chief strategy officer, the latest addition to the executive leadership team.

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An expanded integration between Cloudvirga and Fannie Mae will allow for new and streamlined loan pre-qualification enhancement benefits for both lenders and borrowers.

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In addition to lower mortgage rates and monthly housing payments, new listings are rising and mortgage-purchase applications are up nearly 20 percent from their November low point, according to Redfin.

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Virginia-based Titleworks, Inc. and Cobalt Settlements, LLC have announced a strategic merger, with a key emphasis on providing title industry legal expertise, a service leaders say is in high demand.

Leaders said the deal will also help bolster offerings from Cobalt College, Cobalt Settlements’ continued education program for real estate industry professionals.

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Real estate and title blockchain provider Ubitquity’s NFTitle platform has moved past 1 million property records kept, the company announced.

The company also said it’s reshaping data sharing on the platform through proactive smart contract integration, aiming to automate several transaction steps and eliminate the need for traditional data brokers.

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New findings from the National Federation of Independent Business point to continued elevated worry about the future among small-business owners.

Owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months increased one point from October to November, now coming in at net negative 42 percent seasonally adjusted.

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Stewart Title announced a trio of leadership changes in its central Midwest region; a new hire and two promotions.

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SoftPro has announced a title search integration with Doma Title Insurance, allowing SoftPro users to order and receive Doma title searches directly in the SoftPro portal.

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Completed foreclosures decreased 23 percent month-over-month in November, according to ATTOM.

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Fathom Realty, a subsidiary of Fathom Holdings, Inc., has made its second acquisition in California in the past few months, part of a slew of additions across the country.

Since September, Fathom Holdings subsidiaries have added companies in California, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Texas. Fathom Holdings’ brands include Fathom Realty, Dagley Insurance, Encompass Lending Group, intelliAgent, LiveBy, Real Results and Verus Title.

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A strategic partnership between Grid151 and Avanze Tech Labs aims to streamline technology and processes for title agents, underwriters and lenders.

Leaders said that integrated solution will initially focus on title order entry, CD collaboration, document indexing across platforms and the post-closing process through STACX automation.

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National Integrity Title Agency of New Jersey has added a veteran sales professional and local community leader to its business development team.

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Mortgage lender New American Funding selected Snapdocs’ eClosing platform to accelerate digital closing adoption.

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New Redfin data shows 2023 as the least affordable homebuying year on record. But, affordability is already improving heading into 2024.

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Stewart Information Services Corp. CEO Fred Eppinger spoke on his company’s market share aspirations, recovery from volume downturn and other topics during a company lunch at ALTA ONE 2023.

Eppinger said Stewart has allocated $150 million over three years to enhance its service delivery and product offerings, also stressing the importance of investing in top talent.

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WFG National Title Insurance Co. has signed on with Pythonic Corp. to provide artificial intelligence  (AI)-powered machine-learning models for automation of document processing.

Pythonic tools help automate order entry, document routing, and fee collaboration processes. The company has added multiple clients over the past year including Orange Coast Lender Services, BH Law, Proliant, and Stewart Lender Services.

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Advice on multiple four-day work week models was recently offered by title marketing firm Bowe Digital, which has utilized a four-day structure for roughly 18 months.

Since implementation, the company found that moving to a 32-hour work week spread across four days can maximize efficiency, foster focus and minimize stress.

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ATTOM has appointed a new chairman of the board and promoted from within to fill two executive leadership roles.

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Omni Title Services of Omaha, Neb., has launched a new website, offering features such as a rate calculator, team member blogs and title order options.

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Some homesellers shook free from “rate lock” in November, helping to cut inventory deficits. Monthly mortgage payments also fell 1.5 percent month-to-month, according to Zillow.

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