News By Edition

At its recent conference in Hershey, Pa., the Pennsylvania Land Title Association (PLTA) announced its new officers and presented awards to title professionals.

Read on for more details.

Several executives of Florida Agency Network recently were awarded the CAMS credential by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.

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Notarize has launched what it is touting as the world’s first closing automation platform.

Notarize said the platform enables lenders to offer every type of closing (from fully online to hybrid closings) and consumers to buy, sell, or finance homes entirely online.

Read on to learn what CEO Pat Kinsel had to say about the new platform.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Independence Title has become an approved agent for WFG National Title Insurance Co., the companies announced.

Independence Title owner Kevin Tacher said his company’s affiliation with WFG will allow it to “offer the exceptional services our clients so deserve on an even greater level now.” 

Read on to learn more about Independence Title.

Mortgage credit availability increased across all sectors during the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the latest credit availability index from the Housing Finance Policy Center (HFPC).

However, HFPC said if the current default risk was doubled across all channels, risk still would be well within the pre-crisis standard for the whole mortgage market from 2001 to 2003.

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Stewart Title has appointed a vice president who will be responsible for business development in the Seattle area.

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LoanCare has hired a chief administrative officer who will oversee the onboarding of new clients and servicing portfolios.

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Community Title Network, LLC has acquired a title agency which operates four offices throughout northern Virginia, the company announced.

Community President Michael Ridgway said the acquisition is significant because it increases the company’s market presence in the metropolitan Washington region with the addition of a recognizable company with an excellent reputation.

Read on to learn more about the acquisition.

According to its measures of economic well-being and financial resilience, the Federal Reserve Board said the health of U.S. households generally improved in 2018.

The Fed surveyed 11,000 adults and found that most were largely positive and said they’d experienced substantial gains in line with the nation's ongoing economic expansion.

Read on to learn more details from the Fed’s report on economic well-being.

The Atlanta-based real estate law firm Cook & James has expanded its footprint with the opening of a new location in Woodstock, Ga., and the addition of a new attorney.

Cook & James said the new attorney is needed to serve its increased closing transaction business throughout South Carolina, especially in Richland and Lexington counties.

Read on to learn more about the newest member of the Cook & James team.

The co-founder and CEO of CertifID has released a new eBook designed to teach business owners and consumers how wire fraud scams work and the simple steps to achieve a high level of protection.

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The five states with year-over-year increases in defect frequency in April were New York, Nebraska, Iowa, Hawaii, and West Virginia, according to the latest First American report.

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Covius Holdings has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire certain businesses from Chronos Solutions, the companies announced.

The acquired business will include Chronos’ credit, flood, income and tax verification services, government services, REO management and disposition, online foreclosure auction and homeowners association tracking units.

Read on for more details about the acquisition, which comes three weeks after the company received a $20 million investment.

Following the online expose of millions of sensitive documents, A.M. Best said First American Financial Corp.’s financial strength rating and the long-term issuer credit ratings remain unchanged.

A.M. Best said it is in discussions with First American and believes the company’s management is diligently working through the matter with its team and third-party providers.

Read on for more details.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is warning consumers and real estate professionals about sophisticated phishing scams through which closing costs and downpayments are diverted into fraudulent accounts.

According to the FBI, such attempts have risen 1,100 percent between 2015 and 2017. In 2017, the scams produced an estimated loss of nearly $1 billion in real estate transaction costs. 

Read on for more details of the CFPB’s outreach.

Notarize has closed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions through its remote online notarization platform.

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LenderClose has integrated Simplifile’s county recordable documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and releases, into its platform.

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It has been 438 days since Fidelity announced its plan to acquire Stewart for $1.2 billion, and its next deadline to close is June 18.

In May, President Mike Nolan provided an update on the proposal, along with other details about the company and its plans, in a presentation with Chief Financial Officer Tony Park at the Barclays 2019 Americas Select Franchise Conference.

Read on for more about what Nolan had to say about the next steps.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes in March reached their highest monthly rate since the Great Recession, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau.

National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz said March’s results were due to a combination of lower interest rates and the use of builder price incentives.

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Rockville, Md.-based Passport Title Services, LLC has introduced new digital capabilities that include automated case status communications, settlement document collection and wire fraud mitigation, the company announced.

Passport President and CEO John Cotter said the new capabilities will enhance the customer experience and provide value to all parties in the real estate process.

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The five states with the greatest year-over-year decrease in real house prices were Wyoming, West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

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Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has named a managing broker of an office in Virginia Beach, Va.

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For those selling homes, it will get 3.4 times more online views the day it’s listed than after the seller drops the price, according to a new report from Redfin.

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Western Title Co. has acquired Title Service and Escrow Co. of Fernley and Yerington, Nev., the company announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Western said the acquisition gives it the largest footprint of any title and escrow company in Nevada.

First American Financial Corp. said it has shut down external access to a production environment with a reported design defect that created the potential for unauthorized access to customer data.

The exposed data was reported first by KrebsOnSecurity, which said more than 885 million sensitive documents were exposed online by First American.

A new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed that most consumers expect 2019 home prices to rise at slower pace than last year, and a majority continues to view housing as a good financial investment.

Renters still perceive obtaining a mortgage as difficult, but the share perceiving it as easy or very easy rose above 21 percent for the first time since at least 2014. 

Read on for more details from the survey.

Nationwide Title Clearing has published a new whitepaper that provides a set of best practices for partnering with a lien release provider.

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First American Financial Corp. has released a new study that provides an in-depth look at the trends shaping affordability.

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RynohLive has satisfied the requirements to achieve the Microsoft Silver Application Development Competency.

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A plunge in refinances plus a double-digit reduction in purchase title and closing units resulted in a decline in Title Resource Group’s (TRG) first-quarter earnings, according to the company’s latest earnings statement.

Realogy CEO and President Ryan Schneider said the company is encouraged by some of the things happening in the housing market, which may bode well for the remainder of 2019.

Read on for more details about TRG’s first-quarter performance.

The former chief technology officer of Williston Financial Group and later its wholly-owned subsidiary west has joined Adeptive Software, the company announced

The newest member of Adeptive’s executive team will serve as its senior vice president of strategy, responsible for the long-term direction of the ResWare platform.

Read on for more details about the latest addition to Adeptive’s team.

A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating and the long-term issuer credit ratings of certain members of Old Republic Insurance Companies.

The ratings reflect Old Republic’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

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New York and California had the largest percentage of homebuyers who said their search for a home was impacted by Congress’ historical overhaul of the tax code.

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Since January, San Francisco and Phoenix have seen the biggest increases in the rate of bidding wars.

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