News By Edition

Agents National Title Insurance Co. announced the addition of Danielle Kaiser to its underwriting staff. Kaiser will handle underwriting duties for Indiana and the Eastern region. Also, Cheryl Cowherd has been promoted to senior underwriting counsel.

Congress has passed new rules and regulations regarding mortgage lending and other consumer issues that may well prove to be a complicated maze for businesses to navigate. As a result, the law firm of Offit Kurman, which already has a Financial Institutions Compliance Practice Group and recently launched C3 Compliance Consultants Inc., has hired Barton Shapiro as a principal in its Financial Institutions Compliance Practice. 

Ohio Lieutenant Governor and Department of Insurance Director Mary Taylor announced the department’s top fraud and enforcement cases for 2012. Among the top statewide fraud and enforcement cases for 2012 was this title insurance-related sentencing. Read on for the details.

Two honors were announced within the Stewart family this week. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. awarded its Foundation of Excellence award to a Florida agent, and a vice president of Stewart Title Co. accepted a position on a local board of trustees.

All customers of Simplifile, the nation’s largest e-recording network, may now submit documents electronically to Pima County, Ariz., where e-recording is now available to the general public.

Never one to just keep its news confined to the title insurance industry, Fidelity National Financial Inc. announced a newly formed restaurant company focused on the upscale dining segment — J. Alexander’s LLC. Read on for more about this move.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes was virtually unchanged in February, but did show a one-point decline to 46 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the first official halt in upward momentum in the confidence index that was established throughout 2012.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now holding lenders accountable for the actions of their service providers. Because of this and the recent uncertainty regarding agent vetting, title insurance agents need to prepare now for this new phase of liability and customer concerns. But, to what extent? Read on for more info on this October Research webinar.

Lender Processing Services, a provider of integrated technology, services, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, announced an enhancement to its Lien Alert technology that notifies servicers when properties in their portfolios appear on Multiple Listing Services.

ISGN Corp., a provider of end-to-end technology solutions and services to the U.S. mortgage industry, announced during MBA’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo 2013 the launch of Tempo, a web-based default management platform.

Stewart Lender Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Title Co., announced a partnership with Butler & Hosch P.A. a residential mortgage law firms. The two organizations are partnering to offer an expanded platform for nationwide REO title curative and settlement services.

PropertyInfo Corp., a Stewart company, announced the promotion of Beth Young to vice president, realty segment. In this position, Young will be responsible for overall operations and leadership for the realty segment.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. reported operating results for the three-month and twelve-month periods ended Dec. 31, 2012. Take a look at some of the highlights of this profitable quarter for the title insurance giant, numbers that include the highest title margin since 2003 and the most profitable commercial quarter in its history.

First American Financial Corp. announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2012, results that beat analyst expectations and further demonstrated the strength of the Big Four title insurance underwriters right now. Read on for the details of First American’s earnings.

Alaska is now accepting documents for e-recording in Haines, Juneau and Skagway recording districts through Simplifile, the nation’s largest e-recording service provider.

Orion Financial Group Inc., a provider of mortgage assignment, lien release and document retrieval services, announced it is now providing streamlined settlement and title services to investors by partnering with Lender Title Solutions. The new offering provides a one-stop, efficient solution for small- to medium-size investors, including those who are selling real estate-owned (REO) properties.

Investors Title Co. announced its results for the fourth quarter and year-end 2012. The company said the increase in net income for the quarter and the year was driven primarily by increases in premium volumes, which reflect widespread increases in overall mortgage lending activity. The company also benefited from ongoing expansion of its agent base and targeted entry into new markets. Read on for the numbers.

Old Republic Commercial Due Diligence Services announced the hiring of a national account executive. The national account executive will be responsible for the growth, retention and market delivery of the group’s extensive commercial due diligence offerings.

Chicago Title announced the addition of Jeffrey Howell to its major accounts sales team. Howell will be the team’s vice president and associate counsel.

WFG National Title Insurance Co. announced Debra Langbacka has joined the company as its area vice president, agency representative serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Entrust Solutions sent out an announcement that it has officially launched the Nexus Program in yet another southern state — the fifth state for the budding program. Read on for more. 

Ever since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its proposed rule for updated mortgage forms last summer, there has been great concern that independent settlement agents could find themselves shut out of the closing process.  Contributing columnist Steve Acker, owner of Closergeist, says there are three specifications developed by the MISMO Title Insurance Workgroup that have the potential to alleviate lender concerns and foster continuing collaboration.

Realogy Holdings Corp., a residential real estate franchisor and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation, title and settlement services, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2012. Realogy’s net revenue for fourth quarter 2012 was $1.2 billion, a 30 percent increase compared to the same period in 2011. The company attributes earnings increases to a 35 percent increase in sales volume (homesale transaction sides times average sale price) at the franchised and company-owned real estate services segments combined year-over-year for the quarter.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it will coordinate a study comparing consumers’ understanding of current federal mortgage disclosures and the new disclosures proposed by the bureau.

For the last several months, the homebuilder segment has been growing more and more positive, and not just on blind faith. Take Stanley Martin, for example. It is one of the largest homebuilders in the Washington metro area and it recently announced a merger with Piedmont Realty and Construction in order to keep expanding south. Read on for some thoughts from the company’s president.

FNC Title Services LLC has added Patrick Naughton to its underwriting department. Naughton will specifically focus on underwriting home equity conversion mortgage transactions. FNC Title Services, located in Rockville, Md., is a nationwide title insurance provider.

Canyon Title Co., based in Denver, is a full service title and escrow company servicing 42 states with anytime, anywhere closings. Canyon was recently told by their underwriter, Alliant National Title Insurance Co., that they have superior audits compared to the rest of the state of Colorado.

Lender Processing Services Inc., provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage and real estate industries, announced the appointment of Dan Carmichael to its board of directors.

Most title errors & omissions insurance carriers keep their claims cards held close to their chests as if they are playing in some high-stakes Texas Hold’em tournament. Contributing columnist Adam Gwaltney, an agent with Ritman & Associates, says it is nearly impossible to obtain claim statistics from title E&O insurance carriers, except for one little nugget. Read on for part one of his look at this independent contractor issue.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties and real estate data, released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for January 2013, which shows foreclosure filings decreased 7 percent from the previous month and were down 28 percent from January 2012, thanks in large part to a recent law in California. Read on for RealtyTrac’s take.

Mortgage applications decreased 6.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Feb. 8. Read on for the break down.

United Lender Services Corp., a national title and settlement services and appraisal management company, announced that Chris Behning has been appointed as director of information technology. Read on for more about the move.

Stewart Information Services Corp. reported its year-end and fourth quarter 2012 earnings. The results are positive and according to several financial analysts the company exceeded expectations.

“2012 was a turnaround year for Stewart on many fronts. Not only did we see many of our strategic initiatives delivering profits, but our streamlined management team was able to capitalize on an improving market," said Matthew Morris, chief executive officer.

Title insurance segment stats

Revenue from Stewart direct operations increased 15.5 percent year over year in Q4 2012. Revenue from commercial transactions, which are included in direct operations, increased 38.3 percent year over year to $35.4 million in the fourth quarter 2012. The company said commercial title revenues industry-wide were strongly influenced in the fourth quarter by the anticipated increase in capital gain tax rates in 2013. International operating revenues, which are also included in direct operations, increased 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter year over year.