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Report: Title industry income rivals pre-crisis years
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
A report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assessing the outlook of the title industry predicts net income reported for 2018 will reach pre-crisis levels, and is on its way to topping $1 billion.
The report also notes process efficiencies driven by technology, including eClosings and Blockchain, which eventually will revolutionize the way homes are bought and sold.
Read on for more details from the KBRA report.
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New York moves to block Fidelity-Stewart merger
Posted Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
New York regulators have moved to block Fidelity’s proposed acquisition of Stewart, recently informing the companies through a letter that the Empire State disapproves of the deal.
In a filing with the SEC, Fidelity said it and Stewart are evaluating the appropriate course of action in light of New York’s determination, which may include a discussion with the NYDFS to “better understand its concerns and respond to the letter.”
Read on for more information about NYDFS’ latest action.
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Old Republic’s yearly revenue hits all-time high
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Old Republic International Corp. set its all-time mark for title insurance revenue in 2018, according to the company’s latest earning report, despite a decline in fourth-quarter revenue.
Executive Chairman Rande Yeager called title group’s quarterly and annual performance very good, considering changing market conditions that produced industrywide declines in originations and refinances.
Read on for more details from Old Republic’s latest earnings report.
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Punctual Abstract names new CEO
Posted Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
Punctual Abstract has hired a former Title Source executive as its new CEO.
Punctual said its new CEO has a proven track record of growing business and using new technology to streamline processes at some of the largest title and settlement organizations in the country.
Read on to learn what Punctual founder and owner Steve Daigle, Sr. had to say about the choice.
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Third-party breach exposes millions of financial documents
Posted Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
More than 24 million financial and banking documents from loans and mortgages from some of nation’s largest banks were exposed through a server security lapse, according to a report by TechCrunch.com.
TechCrunch traced the breach to Ascension, a Fort Worth, Texas-based data and analytics company which converts paper documents and handwritten notes into computer-readable files.
Read on learn what sensitive information was exposed.
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Home seller ROI hits 12-year high
Posted Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
Home sellers in 2018 realized an average home price gain of $61,000.
Read on for more details from ATTOM Data Solutions’ 2018 U.S. Home Sales Report.
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Commercial, multifamily lending expected to increase
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Commercial and multifamily mortgage originators expect 2019 to see increases in lending activity, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Most survey respondents said lenders in 2018 had a “strong” or “very strong” appetite to make new loans, and all expect lenders’ appetite in 2019 year to remain “strong” or “very strong.”
Read on for more details from MBA’s 2019 Commercial Real Estate Finance Outlook Survey.
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Cook & James launches community service initiative
Posted Date: Monday, February 18, 2019
Cook & James recently launched a new community initiative through which the firm by collected and delivered dozens of coats, sweaters, and blankets to the Atlanta Day Shelter at the Atlanta Mission.
Read on for more details.
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Title Security, Landmark Title using Blockchain
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Some branches of Title Security and Landmark Title have begun using RealBlock’s Blockchain platform to eliminate fraud during wire transfers.
RealBlock said its Blockchain platform will be deployed to additional branches in coming weeks and that many additional title companies are in negotiations to implement the technology.
Read on to learn how many Blockchain transactions per month RealBlock hopes to complete by 2020.
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East Texas Title, NotaryCam complete RON closing
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
East Texas Title recently executed its first remote online closing using NotaryCam’s eClose360 eClosing platform.
The eClosing was performed on behalf of a couple located in Colorado and selling their property in Longview, Texas, and the entire transaction took less than one hour.
East Texas Title owner Celia Flowers said the technology allows her company to avoid mail outs, which holds up transactions.
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Black Knight launches virtual analytics lab
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Black Knight has launched an interactive virtual analytics lab where users can source and upload data, execute queries, perform complex analytics and train machine-learning models in a single workspace.
CEO Anthony Jabbour said the new platform delivers computational power “an order of magnitude greater than what most firms have in-house, and enables data scientists and analysts to deliver faster insights.”
Read on for more details about Black Knight’s virtual analytics lab.
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Nevada adopts Simplifile statewide
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
With the addition of Mineral County, Nevada has become the ninth state in nation to implement Simplifile’s eRecording network statewide.
Read on for more details.
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CFPB announces leadership changes
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger recently announced numerous leadership changes within the bureau.
Read on for more details.
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Vendorly, Shared Assessments collaborate
Posted Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Vendorly has collaborated with Shared Assessments to license the standardized information gathering questionnaire.
Read on for more details.
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Retired bank executive joins Old Republic board
Posted Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
Old Republic International Corp. has added a retired bank executive to its board.
The newest board member has more than four decades of experience delivering wealth, commercial and investment banking services to customers.
Read on to learn why Old Republic Chairman and CEO Al Zucaro believes the company’s newest board member is a good fit.
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Ivey & Eggleston selects Pavaso
Posted Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
Asheboro, N.C.-based law firm Ivey & Eggleston has selected Pavaso’s platform to conduct its digital closings.
Read on for more details.
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Providence Title expands use of SafeChain
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
One of the largest independent title companies in Texas has expanded its use of SafeWire to all 25 of its offices throughout the state, the company announced.
Providence Title’s network of agents will use SafeWire to verify the identities of transaction participants, authenticate bank account ownership, and to securely store and transmit wiring instructions.
Read on to learn what Providence Title CEO Dan Foster said about SafeChain.
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NABE members not anticipating recession
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
Most members of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) recently surveyed do not expect a recession this year, but are not anticipating robust economic growth, either.
Additionally, a majority of survey respondents to NABE’s January Business Conditions Survey said last year’s sweeping take cuts haven’t caused their firms to change hiring or investment plans.
Read on for more details from NABE’s survey.
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Richey May acquires Amata Solutions
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
Three months after investing in the firm, Richey May has fully acquired Amata Solutions, a provider of customized planning and business intelligence tools for mortgage lenders.
Read on for more details.
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Redfin: Housing inventory up, affordability down
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
There are more homes for sale in many markets, but the share of those homes that are affordable to a typical household has decreased.
Read on for more details from Redfin’s analysis.
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LenderClose hires sales executive
Posted Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
LenderClose’s newest sales executive is an industry veteran who has worked for SingleSource and SWBC Lending Solutions.
Read on for more details.
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Optimism among small-business owners dips
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Unfilled jobs and a lack of qualified applicants to fill them pushed the National Federation of Independent Business’ (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index down slightly in December.
Twenty-three percent of owners cited the difficulty in finding qualified workers as their single most important business problem.
Read on for more details from NFIB’s latest index.
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Southern Title promotes manager
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Southern Title has named a manager for its Port Orange office.
Read on for more details.
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Cloudstar launches fraud-prevention tool
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Cloudstar has launched a fraud-prevention tool that sends custom tailored phishing emails to all parties in the real estate transaction.
Read on for more details.
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CSC adds new counties
Posted Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Since the fourth quarter of 2018, CSC has added 37 new counties in 19 states to its eRecording network.
Read on for more details.
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Kansas brokerage names new president
Posted Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Kansas City Realty has announced that Jim Raines has assumed the role of president.
BHHS said its former president, Jim Manning, will continue as managing broker of its Lenexa, Kan., and Overland Park, Kan., offices and will work with Raines to grow the offices. The company offers title insurance through its Kansas City Title affiliate.
Read on for more details about Raines’ background.
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Qualia integrates with TitleWave
Posted Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
Qualia has partnered with Fidelity National Financial (FNF) to integrate its TitleWave title search services into the Qualia platform.
The integration will provide Qualia customers with the ability to submit their title search orders to TitleWave without having to rekey order details or leave the Qualia platform.
Read on to learn what Qualia and FNF had to say about the latest integration.
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WFG hires New York underwriting counsel
Posted Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
WFG National Title Insurance Co. hired a senior national commercial underwriting counsel for its commercial division based in New York.
Read on for more details.
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Simplifile expands eRecording network
Posted Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
Simplifile has expanded its eRecording network with the addition of 46 recording jurisdictions in 13 states.
Read on for more details.
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SWK Technologies acquires PIT
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
A sister company of Critical Cyber Defense Corp. has acquired a leading reseller of Sage Software solutions.
Partners in Technology, Inc. (PIT), the acquired company, services more than 160 customers in the Chicago area and in 2018 reported revenue exceeding $1 million.
Read on to learn how much SWK Technologies paid to acquire PIT.
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Small-business lending slowed
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Lending activity in September fell in eight of the 10 largest states compared with the prior month, according to the Thomson Reuters/ PayNet Small Business Lending Index (SBLI).
However, on a year-over-year basis, lending rose across the board for the seventh straight month, the SBLI found.
Read on to learn what PayNet President William Phelan had to say about the latest index.
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Foreclosures dip to 13-year low
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
The number of default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in 2018 dropped to their lowest level since 2005.
Read on for more details from ATTOM Data Solutions’ U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
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Millennials taking larger loans
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Like other consumers, millennial homebuyers have to take out larger loans to purchase homes these days.
Read on for more details from Ellie Mae’s latest Millennial Tracker.
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