As her last day at the American Land Title Association approached, Michelle Korsmo sat down with The Title Report one last time to reflect upon her seven-plus years as CEO and more than a decade of service with the association.
To do so, though, she first had to pry herself from so many in the industry who wanted to talk, say thanks, and share a final moment with her.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I always said that everyone in the title and settlement industry really is special, but over the last few weeks I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of thanks and appreciation from such a wonderful group of people.”
Korsmo announced her departure in July after she accepted the position of CEO for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America trade association. But she said the process of deciding to leave and accept a new position was a months-long process.
“Once in a while I would get calls from other industries, but I was very quick to say no thank you, I’m very happy where I am,” she said.
When a firm conducting the CEO search for the Wine & Spirits group reached out – and industry friends followed, encouraging her to take a meeting – Korsmo finally did decide to sit down with the association.
“They put me in front of their members and, much like the title and settlement industry, they were businesses born of family-owned companies, who were very much a part of their communities and cared about their country and society, and that was certainly appealing to me,” she said. “The challenge and the opportunity to build something new is interesting and exciting as well.”
Korsmo said the timing appeared to be right, and decided to make the move.
“I love ALTA and the members and we’ve done some really wonderful things on behalf of the industry, so I feel really good about the position the trade association is in now,” she said. “If there’s ever a time to leave, when business is strong, this is a good time.”
ALTA’s board named a search committee after Korsmo announced her departure and has begun the process of finding the next CEO. No timetable for making the decision has been announced and Chief Operating Officer Cornelia Horner will serve as interim CEO until the board selects a permanent replacement.
Looking back over her time at ALTA, Korsmo highlighted four main areas she was most proud of accomplishing, including one from her earliest days at the association.
Among the goals of the ALTA board and her predecessor, Kurt Pfotenhauer, was to institute the policy forms licensing program to protect the value of the copyrights of the insurance forms ALTA creates for the industry.
“That was something Kurt wanted to do and execute on behalf of the board, and I think that was a turning point to creating a lot more external industry-focused products for ALTA,” Korsmo said.
The next major step was addressing vendor management in the wake of Dodd-Frank reform, and the process which led to the creation of the Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices.
“The work that the board did to answer that question about how you show compliance management, how you show those best practices in the industry, that is unique or specific to title and settlement, was really important,” Korsmo said.
The process has been examined and the Best Practices updated since their introduction, and Korsmo suggested its success is measured by the success of title and settlement companies large and small in their interactions with lenders today.
“I think the industry did more – I know people won’t necessarily all agree with this – but I do think the industry did more to help protect businesses of every size as they go through this change and the interconnectedness of lenders and the settlement companies,” she said. “Before, the conversations about how vendor oversight would happen with the lenders were going on, but they tended to go on between the lenders and the large companies with whom they were doing business, both large underwriters and agents. Which stands to reason. But what it meant was for the companies that weren’t quite as large, they weren’t in that conversation to even hear what was potentially being expected of them by the lenders and what existed out there.
“And so by putting out the Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices, there was a lot of transparency to the level of expectation on performance and compliance management for companies of every size. And I think that’s the thing that really changed the game.”
Another game-changer has been the focus the industry has placed on consumer outreach, and how ALTA has been able to assist conversations agents and underwriters have with consumers.
“It’s working on what is, if you go back into ALTA archives, an age old question. If you look back at a Title News story from 100 years ago, the industry lamented why people don’t understand what we do for a living,” she said. “I don’t think that we’ve solved that problem but I do think that we’ve come a long way to really help the members of the industry talk about benefits that the homebuyers receive when they get a title insurance product and the settlement process that’s conducted by agents around the country.”
And, of course, there was TRID. That years-long project that revolutionized the way the title and settlement industry – and all partners in the real estate transaction – do business today. From discussions in small groups within the industry to outreach to regulators and legislators in Washington, the TRID effort was at the forefront of Korsmo and ALTA’s advocacy efforts since before the new disclosure forms were introduced.
“I think the work we did on TRID was monumental, and what I was most happy about was the way the industry really led,” she recalled. “The title and settlement people got in first and figured out what needed to happen, and what everyone learned in the title and settlement industry, they started teaching, which was so impressive to me.
“Going through that was a great thing. The industry got through it the best we could for what we had. From a lobbying perspective, we did a lot of work to make sure the forms are as clear as possible. We didn’t get everything we wanted but we got rid of some things we were worried about and we’re not done fighting for the things we want.”
Looking to the industry’s future, Korsmo said incoming ALTA President Cynthia Blair would have insight from the board’s summer meeting about top areas in which the industry would be focused for 2019. But in general, data security and fraud were among the topics which Korsmo expects will remain on the industry’s radar.
“People are very concerned about information security and wire fraud. If you ask any agent or underwriter what keeps you up at night, it’s the threat of wire fraud,” she said. “One false move by somebody in the process could potentially put you out of business. And so many people are still unaware of the problem.”
She also cited staffing and technology as areas which would be prominent in the future.
“People are concerned about what to do to develop talent, and that’s not just particular to the title and settlement industry but to the workforce as a whole. They’re asking, ‘What am I doing to attract the best potential talent in the future? How am I developing tomorrow’s leaders? How am I encouraging the talent transfer from so many leaders in the industry to the next generation?’
“Transparency is an important part of the process, are we being transparent with customers about what they’re getting and why they’re paying and what they’re paying for from our services? Technology is very much were we are now and influencing the way business happens. I think the biggest thing for ALTA members is asking how am I looking at technology as a consumers, and how can I ask questions to make my business operate more efficiently?”
As the memories and stories have flooded back in conversations with friends, members and staff since her announcement, Korsmo said it was difficult to pinpoint her favorite recollections. But all of them involved personal connections.
“All of my great stories have been about people,” she said. “Immediately a dozen stories come to mind about individuals, like Frank Pelligrini saying to Chris Abbinante ‘Is there a future for me in this business?’ And that question helped lead to the creation of Best Practices. If you keep working through these problems, you can get to solutions.
“There’s so many fun stories about how much people enjoyed the change from ALTA annual to ALTA One, and how much more engaging we’re seeking to make our live events, so we learn from each other and that interaction, and not necessarily come to listen to someone talk but to have that opportunity to have a conversation where you both learn a little more.”
Finally, she recalled the family atmosphere at the office.
“All the stories lead back to the times the ALTA staff pulled together. Like any team there’s challenges you face as a group and together we did a lot of work and did grow professionally,” she said. “I enjoyed how we all had gotten to reach and understand the leadership lessons from the book ‘The Boys in the Boat,’ so we’re rowing together and working for something as a team. (I’ll miss) the members, the people and the ALTA staff.”
She won’t, however, be too far away. The new role with Wine & Spirits keeps her working in Washington, and technology will bridge the distance with those outside the nation’s capital.
“As a mother of three young girls I’m not enamored with social media but one of the things I do like it the ability to still feel like you know what goes on in other people’s lives. I really appreciate that even though I won’t be at ALTA, I’ll still know what’s happening with the people who are so important to me,” she said.
As the conversation wrapped up, Korsmo referenced her final advocacy email – her written farewell to the membership she led for more than seven years.
“It’s that same message that George Washington had in his farewell to the nation, that I mentioned in my note to members. Doing so didn’t make him less of a patriot. Moving on doesn’t make me any less of a person who feels connected and has great affection for the association and members and staff,” she said.
“I’m happy to have been able to be a part of the ALTA story.”