News By Edition

It’s safe to say that the 16th version of the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) will be unlike any before. So it is fitting that the show is headlined by the first speaking appearance by Zillow at NS3.

Ryan Berry, the senior vice president, central operations at Zillow Group, keynotes NS3, which runs Sept. 1-3.

Read on for details about the conference, its featured speakers, and the networking opportunities to come.

AccuTitle said its recent acquisition of new platforms has prepared the company to help clients find new solutions to their unique problems.

Read on to learn more.

North American Title Insurance Co. has added several new offerings to its on-demand continuing education and continuing legal education platform for title agents.

Read on for more details.

SoftPro has introduced a new webinar series designed to help its users stay connected in a socially distant environment.

Read on for more details.

A Washington state title and escrow company is partnering with Ubitquity LLC to build a platform for creating tokenized property title as well as parallel records of conveyances, the companies announced.

Rainier Title also announced it is migrating to Qualia, and Ubitquity will be working to produce software that seamlessly integrates into Qualia.

Read on for more details.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ellie Mae for $11 billion, the companies announced.

In recent years, ICE has purchased MERS and Simplifile. It bills itself as the leading provider of end-to-end electronic workflow solutions serving the residential mortgage industry. The deal is expected to close later this year.

 Read on to learn more.

An Indiana-based title agency with more than 30 offices throughout Indiana, Michigan and Illinois has added a virtual assistant to its website, the company announced.

 The company’s virtual assistant is similar to the chat bots that appear on many websites, and provides customers a broader range of access to working files and other useful information.

 Read on for more details.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. has hired a senior vice president strategic development.

Read on to learn more.

In June, new listings for the most expensive homes increased significantly in San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., and Miami.

Read on for more details.

Mortgage Connect LP has hired a senior vice president of digital technologies.

Read on for more details.

A more than 200 percent increase in refinances, combined with a more than 20 percent reduction in closed units, produced flat second-quarter net revenue for the Realogy Title Group, according to the company’s latest earnings statement.

CEO and President Ryan Schneider said Realogy expanded its virtual capabilities during the second quarter, including virtual staging, virtual open houses, virtual tours and virtual title closings.

Read on to learn more details from Realogy’s latest earnings report.

The Dallas-based due diligence commercial real estate firm BBG has launched its American Land Title Association (ALTA) Survey service, the company announced.

BBG said the ALTA Survey service will provide a more efficient way of providing land surveys to title insurers, banks and others, allowing them to expedite commercial due diligence requirements.

Read on to learn who BBG appointed to manage the survey service.

Zillow has become an exclusive partner with D.R. Horton.

Read on for more details about the partnership.

Well-known industry veteran Charles (Chuck) Cain has left WFG National Title Insurance Co. and joined the FNF Family of Companies.

FNF said Cain will serve as senior vice president of its National Agency Division. The company said Cain will focus will be on relationships and providing agents with educational programs and information on industry and regulatory trends to enable them to grow their businesses.

Read on for more details.

Old Republic International Corp. established second-quarter records for revenue and profits, according to the company’s latest earning statement.

 President and CEO Craig Smiddy said the second-quarter performance of the company’s title insurance segment demonstrates that Old Republic’s strategic diversification between general insurance and title insurance works very well.

Read on for details from Old Republic’s second-quarter earnings statement.

During the 16^th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3), slated for Sept. 1-3, attendees will have the opportunity to attend a track focused on cybersecurity.

This is one of three tracks featured at the show.

Read on for more information.

A Florida statewide title company that delivers fully digital and hybrid closings through a collaborative platform has completed an $850,000 fundraising round, the company announced.

The company said its latest investment brings its total funding to more than $1 million and will help it aggressively expand its sales and marketing efforts, as well as to continue to develop additional product functionality.

Read on for more details.

Stewart Information Services announced the appointments of two new members of its board of directors following their election at the annual shareholders’ meeting in June.

Stewart CEO Fred Eppinger said experience of the two new members further strengthens the board as the company executes its growth strategies.

Read on for more details about Stewarts two newest board members.

North American Title Co. has named a managing director of its Florida business.

Read on for more details.

SLK Global Solutions’ property search solution SmartProp now is integrated with SharperLending’s EPN settlement services platform, the companies announced.

Listing prices of homes for sale jumped 13 percent to an all-time high.

Read on for more details.

Cannae Holdings, Inc. and Senator Investment Group have upped the ante in their $7 billion bid to acquire CoreLogic, initiating the process to call a shareholder meeting to replace a majority of CoreLogic’s board with independent directors.

 CoreLogic said the bid to acquire its outstanding common shares significantly undervalues the company, raises serious regulatory concerns, and is not in the best interests of its shareholders.

 Read on to learn the latest in this takeover bid.

Buoyed by a huge increase in refinances, First American Financial Corp.’s second-quarter revenue increased, according to the company’s latest earnings statement.

CEO Dennis Gilmore said the company’s decision earlier in the year not to lay off employees because of the anticipated market downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic was a good one.

Read on to learn more details from First American’s latest earnings statement.

DataTrace Information Services LLC has expanded its automation suite with the launch of TitleIQ Enterprise.

 The company said TitleIQ Enterprise unifies multiple search processes – automated, title plant and title production services – into a single digitally connected search and examination solution for expedited nationwide title report production.

 Read on for more details about the new product.

Stewart has announced a senior division president to oversee direct operations in the Texas markets of Austin and San Antonio.

Read on for more details.

The biggest annual increases were in Spokane, Wash.; Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Indianapolis.

Read on for more details.

Clear Title Agency of Arizona has hired a vice president for its commercial division.

Read on for more details.

Black Knight, Inc. has entered into a $1.8 billion definitive equity purchase agreement to acquire Optimal Blue, a provider of secondary market solutions and actionable data services, the company announced.

 Optimal Blue’s offerings include its PPE engine; secondary services such as pipeline management; origination-specific data and analytics; and a loan-trading platform.

 Read on for more details about the acquisition.

Veritable Data Solutions, Inc. has launched a Blockchain-powered smartphone application it said enables notaries to prevent title theft from elderly and other vulnerable victims.

 The company said its app empowers notaries to become gatekeepers who shield homeowners from real estate scams. An estimated $500 million annually is stolen from homeowners, lenders, and title insurance companies through cyberfraud.

 Read on for more details.

Newly formed mortgage banker MortgageCountry has selected DocMagic’s platform for documentation preparation service, the companies announced.

 MortgageCountry said it is closing loans in an average of 13 calendar days during the first two months of lending using DocMagic’s Total eClose. 

 Read on to learn what DocMagic President and CEO Dominic Iannitti said about the partnership.

Flueid recently hired a senior vice president of product, exchange.

Read on for more details.

The metropolitan areas with the greatest year-over-year sales percentage increases in June were Tulsa, Okla.; Little Rock, Ark.; and Dallas/Ft Worth.

Read on to learn more.

Realogy Title Group has appointed a president of its property and casualty insurance business.

Read on for more details.

Stewart Information Services Corp. reported significant increases in both second-quarter revenue and profit, according to the company’s latest earnings statement.

 During the quarter, Stewart’s total opened and closed orders improved 28 percent and 32 percent, respectively, and the company said its July orders are outpacing June.

 Read on for more details from Stewart’s second-quarter earnings report.

Less than two years after opening its first office, Proliant Settlement Systems franchisee Alliance Title of Michigan has opened a second franchise office in suburban Detroit.

Co-owner Kelly Anderson said Proliant has served as her company’s cheerleader and has pushed them since they began working together in 2018.

The American Land Title Association has endorsed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Equality of Opportunity Initiative, which outlines a broad policy agenda regarding education, employment, entrepreneurship and criminal justice. 

 The chamber’s Equality of Opportunity Agenda urges policy actions and private-sector solutions to help close race-based opportunity gaps in four critical areas: education, employment, entrepreneurship, and criminal justice.

 Read on to learn more.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. has hired a regional underwriting counsel to cover Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Read on for more details.

The 16th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3), slated for Sept. 1-3, will feature an entire compliance track this year, one of three tracks featured at the show.

Four top regulators will kick things off by participating in a panel discussion about how many of the regulations affecting the industry recently are coming from the state level.

Read on to see who is speaking, what other compliance topics will be discussed and how you can register.

Median home prices of single-family homes and condos during the second quarter of 2020 were more affordable than historical averages in 49 percent of U.S. counties.

Read on for more details.