News By Edition

The title insurance industry generated $6.8 billion in title insurance premiums in the third quarter, according to the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) recent market share analysis. That’s a 32.5 percent year-over-year increase in title volume, for the best-performing quarter on record, according to ALTA.

Every state except Oregon experienced a year-over-year increase in volume.

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In December, Stewart Information Services Corp. announced the acquisition of two Midwest title companies.

It acquired Chicago-based Greater Illinois Title Co., which has companies in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Florida, as well as a subsidiary that operates in 18 other states. Stewart also acquired Devon Title Agency, one of the largest agencies in Michigan.

Read on for more.

Doma expanded its proprietary Doma Intelligence platform, which includes automated, machine learning-driven underwriting and fee-balancing features, to Washington, Utah, Maine, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

That brings the company’s total coverage of the residential real estate market to approximately 83 percent, based on gross written premium, according to Doma.

Read on for more about the expansion.

New Hampshire-based Great East Title Service launched a new brand and website. The ideas for the new look and site came from Great East employees.

The website was designed to include helpful information for each segment of the company’s client base: homebuyers, sellers, real estate professionals, and lenders.

Read on for more about the new look.

CATIC’s Massachusetts team hired an associate agency advisor. He will work out of the Waltham, Mass., office.

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A recent Redfin report reviewed 2021, a record year for the housing market. In the past year, home-sale prices hit the highest median of all time, the number of homes for sale fell to an all-time low, and there was record demand for second homes.

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Community Title Network, LLC, acquired Manassas, Va.-based Freedom Title Inc. It is the fifth acquisition by Community Title, which operates in the mid-Atlantic region.

Freedom Title was founded in 1989 by Mina Croson, the company’s operating principal. She will remain with the company for a short period in a consulting role.

Read on for more about the acquisition.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index increased by 0.2 points in November, to 98.4. Four of the 10 index components improved, four declined, and two were unchanged. The NFIB Uncertainty Index decreased four points to 63.

Also, according to the NFIB monthly jobs report, nearly half of all small-business owners reported job openings they could not fill in November.

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CATIC launched CATIC Academy, an online learning platform that will provide its agents with training programs with both national and state-specific content.

The e-learning/on-demand training programs, live training sessions, and recorded webinars will be provided by vendors including Skillsoft, New Horizons, and BizLibrary through a partnership with TrainUp.

Read on for more about CATIC Academy.

Fintech firm BeSmartee announced a partner integration with mortgage fee data provider LodeStar. The partnership will allow BeSmartee to pull fees to populate the loan estimate and closing costs for products.

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Fintech company Stavvy hired a head of industry and regulatory affairs. He will be responsible for overseeing Stavvy’s public policy engagement and strategic industry partnerships.

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Franklin County, Fla., saw the largest year-over-year increase in second-home mortgage rate locks, according to a report from Pacaso, a real estate platform for luxury second homes. The share of second-home mortgage rate locks was up 11.5 percent year-over-year.

Read on for more from the report the top second-home markets in 2021.

ClosingLock, a wire fraud prevention platform for the real estate industry, completed its acquisition of select assets of Columbus, Ohio-based SafeWire, which provides software to title companies to combat wire fraud in real estate transactions.

The acquisition will allow ClosingLock to offer SafeWire’s customers more robust tools to fight wire fraud, according to ClosingLock co-founder and CEO Andy White.

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Austin, Texas-based private equity firm Strattam Capital acquired Action Title Research, a company that deploys a technology-driven process to title research and public records analysis.

Britehorn Partners advised on the acquisition, which Action Title Research CEO Chris Blum said will provide the resources to accelerate growth and develop new solutions for clients.

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First National Title Insurance Co. (FNTI) promoted its compliance/regulatory counsel to chief operating officer. He joined FNTI in April and assisted in the company’s expansion into 21 states.

He has over 23 years of experience in the title industry in variety of roles ranging from agency and field work to executive level leadership roles.

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Rhode Island-based Res/Title expanded its footprint westward with the opening of local offices in California, Oregon and Washington. The title agency is now licensed in 42 states.

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Porch Group, Inc., added a module to its suite of software solutions provided through its Inspection Support Network (ISN). Now, Porch can provide agents and homebuyers the ability to pay for their home inspection either at the close of a home purchase or at the time of inspection.

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The Fidelity National Title, National Commercial Services California team named a vice president, national account manager. He will facilitate and provide title and escrow solutions for major commercial real estate transactions on a local and national level.

Read on for more about the new VP.

Shaddock company Capital Title of Texas acquired Eagle Title of Palo Pinto County, Inc., which is headquartered in Graford, Texas. Capital Title said the acquisition will allow it to expand into the Possum Kingdom Lake area.

Eagle Title will retain its name, and its owner and current staff will remain.

Read on for more about the acquisition.

Fathom Holdings broke the quarterly $100 million revenue mark for the first time in the company’s history, according to Chief Financial Officer Marco Fregenal.

In the third quarter, total revenue increased 81 percent year-over-year to $100.9 million, up from $55.8 million, according to the company’s third quarter earnings report.

Read on for more from the report.

The CATIC Family of Companies has partnered with LEAP, a cloud-based legal practice productivity solution. Through the partnership, CATIC is offering its title agents access to LEAP’s software, and LEAP is expanding its functionality for real estate attorneys.

The CATIC and LEAP integration is available in Massachusetts and New York, with availability in Connecticut and Georgia planned for early 2022.

Read on for more about the partnership.

Orange Coast Title Co. named a profit center manager and general manager of the company’s lender divisions. She was promoted from first vice president and assistant general manager of Orange Coast Title’s Pittsburgh location.

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November foreclosures were down 5 percent month-over-month but up 94 percent year-over-year, according to an ATTOM report. Foreclosure starts dropped 3 percent in November.

Read on for more from the report.

Florida Title & Guarantee Agency acquired A-1 Title of the Nature Coast and Shamrock Closing Services in Citrus County, Fla.

The combined companies will operate as Florida Title & Guarantee Agency and retain the existing offices of A-1 Title and Shamrock Closing in Inverness and Crystal River, Fla.

Read on for more about the acquisitions.

Integrated Growth Strategies Managing Director Ted Sprink founded the fintech firm iTitleTransfer, LLC, to offer iBuyers and investors an alternative to the traditional homeownership transfer process.

The company aggregates and examines land registry data to facilitate the transfer of residential real estate between retail sellers and cash buyers based on a standard purchase and sales agreement.

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SoftPro released a new integration with ClosingLock for wire fraud prevention. By utilizing ClosingLock, companies can eliminate the need to email wiring instructions and better protect themselves from wire fraud, email spoofing, and business email compromise, according to the companies.

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Alliance Title and Escrow promoted a team member to vice president and area manager of the company’s eastern Idaho operations. She will continue to serve as general manager of Alliance’s Jefferson County operations.

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There is a shortage of 1.35 million new construction homes since the Great Recession in the 35 largest housing markets, according to Zillow. Builders are racing to catch up, but supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are slowing their efforts.

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First American Title Co. of Montana, a subsidiary of Title Financial Corp., expanded into Helena, Mont., with the acquisition of First Montana Land Title Co.

The acquired company will continue to operate as First Montana Land Title Co. with the same staff that has served Lewis and Clark counties for decades.

Read on for more about the acquisition.

Columbus, Ohio-based Empora Title announced its official entry into the market after raising $26.6 million in Series A funding. Investors include Caffeinated Capital, SciFi VC, Background VC, and Root Insurance.

The tech-forward title company aims to ensure customers receive a fast, seamless experience that can be tracked via the Empora client portal.

Read on for more.

Qualia released vendor performance reports, a new set of reporting features for Qualia Marketplace that helps users analyze their operations and identify top-performing vendors.

With vendor performance reports, title and escrow agents can identify which of their title search, release tracking and notary service providers are delivering optimal performance and cost efficiency in particular states.

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Clear Title Agency of Arizona hired a director of strategic accounts. She will focus on enhanced services for brokers and real estate agents and continued market growth for the company’s newly formed builder division.

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Alliant National Title Insurance Co. named a regional counsel – southeast. He was promoted from state counsel – Georgia and South Carolina.

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ATTOM’s residential property mortgage origination report shows 3.59 million residential mortgages originated in the third quarter. That’s up 3 percent year-over-year, but down 8 percent from the second quarter – the largest quarterly dip in over a year.

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Real estate services company Direct Title Solutions (DTS) is expanding its suite of offerings. As of January, DTS will act as an umbrella company to two new subsidiaries: Wholesale Title Solutions (WTS) and Retail Title Solutions (RTS).

The move will accommodate the company’s recent growth and maturing technology strategy, according to DTS.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired Park City, Utah-based Real Estate Insurance Solutions (REIS). REIS head Chris Nangle and his associates will remain in their current location under the direction of Kevin Garvin, head of Gallagher Affinity.

REIS offers real estate errors and omissions insurance/cyber liability to title insurance agents, among other customers.

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Millennial Title opened an office in Cincinnati. It marks the company’s eighth location and fifth state into which it has expanded.

Read on for more about the new office.