News By Edition

First American Financial Corp., a global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions to participants in real estate transactions, signed an agreement with Verisk Analytics Inc. to acquire Interthinx Inc. Established in 1996, Interthinx provides solutions designed to help clients minimize risk, increase operational efficiencies, satisfy regulatory requirements, manage data verification and ensure compliance. The company is best known for FraudGUARD, its mortgage fraud analytics product.

Business process provider, SLK Global, opened its first U.S.-based facility in Dallas. 

Fidelity National Financial Inc., a provider of title insurance, technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries, reported operating results for the three-month and 12-month periods ending Dec. 31, 2013. William Foley, chairman of Fidelity National Financial said the fourth quarter was a solid finish to a year of transition in the title insurance business as the market shifted focus from refinance transactions to a more purchase driven market.

Read on for more information on the company's earnings as well as its creation of Black Knight Financial Services and a tracking stock for portfolio company investments.

Stewart Information Services Corp. reported earnings for the fourth quarter and year 2013. Chief Executive Officer Matt Morris said the title operations delivered a solid year of earnings. He said he remains optimistic regarding the outlook for real estate in 2014.

Keep reading for more information on the company's title insurance and mortgage services segments.

Williston Financial Group acquired Universal Land Title of Texas, a Texas-based title insurance agency with offices in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. WFG is the parent company of a family of title insurers which deliver title insurance and real estate settlement services for lender, commercial and residential transactions, nationwide.  Universal Land Title of Texas will now operate as WFG National Title Company of Texas.

IBERIABANK Corp., a financial holding company with 21 title insurance offices, will acquire First Private Holdings Inc. The merger was approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014. The president and chief executive officer of IBKC said he is delighted to partner with a team that can help the company expand in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

First Title and Escrow, a nationwide provider of title insurance and closing solutions announced its expansion into Texas with the opening of its first location in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The company also recently completed an SSAE 16 SOC1, Type II audit of its processes, procedures, internal controls and technology infrastructure. This new location will allow the company to offer residential and commercial services.

 Keep reading for more details.

Adeptive Software, the privately owned creator of ResWare, is celebrating more than 10 years in the title and settlement software industry. In other news, Adeptive added Ganene Nielsen to assist with Implementation Services. Sylvia Hacker was hired to assist in supporting, testing and upgrading ResWare customers. 

On Feb. 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB closed its comment period for consumers to submit their thoughts on the mortgage closing process.  For the past month, the agency has sought input from closing and settlement agents, consumers, lenders, housing finance professional, brokers, real estate agents, advocates and other interested parties. The comments provided will be used to research and test solutions that address some of the biggest “pain points” associated with closing on a mortgage.

Read on to see the responses from the title insurance industry

Title Alliance, a title insurance company with 35 RESPA compliant joint ventures, turned a total profit of $6,581,101. Among the results, Title Alliance noted affiliates in Ohio saw an impressive jump in profits from 2012-2013. This allowed one affiliate, America Land Title Affiliates, to add a commerical division.

Read on for more information on Title Alliance.

Kensington Vanguard National Land Services, one of the largest independent full-service national title insurance and settlement agencies, opened its first office in the greater Washington D.C. market with the acquisitions of New Era Title and Clear to Close Settlement Services. These represent the second and third acquisitions completed by the company in the past 12 months. Headquartered in New York City, the company has offices in Florida, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas and operates in all 50 states. 

Pioneer Technology Group, developers of the YourDox secure title file system, was named a preferred vendor for title insurance agents underwritten by the FNTG family of companies. Under the terms of the agreement, FNTG agents will qualify for preferred pricing for the imaging, data and delivery and marketing services provided by Pioneer’s YourDox system. Pioneer Vice President Peter Johnson said FNTG has shown a firm commitment to providing common sense, cost-effective solutions to their agents and the customers they serve.

Detroit-based Title Source, an independent provider of title insurance, property valuations and settlement services, announced the launch of its revolutionary mobile app, My Signings, providing a streamlined process for Title Source and its signing agent partners nationwide. It was built to be the primary avenue for Title Source to communicate with signing agents. The app includes real-time communication, an in-app closing calendar and integrated GPS directions.

Delaware’s largest recording jurisdiction, New Castle County, announced e-recording of satisfactions and assignments is now available through Simplifile, an e-recording service provider. The county officially recorded its first electronic document, a satisfaction, submitted by a local bank. It is the second county to adopt e-recording with Simplifile, following Kent County in May 2013.

Alaska became the third multi-jurisdictional state in which 100 percent of its recording jurisdictions are e-recording enabled. Colorado was first and Arizona second. Hawaii also claims 100 percent with its state-based recording system.

Simplifile, an e-recording service provider, appointed Nancy Alley to the position of vice president of strategic planning. She said Simplifile is a leader in the industry and good match. She brings past experience from ISGN Corp. and Xerox.

Stewart Title of California announced two new offices will open in San Francisco to serve the Bay Area. The staff will handle residential and commercial transactions, as well as other title and escrow-related services. The company also added Jason McDonald as regional sales manager – vice president.

Edina Realty announced that Brad Fisher was named the new president of Edina Realty Title. The company is a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and a wholly-owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc. Edina’s Realty’s family of companies includes Edina Realty, Edina Realty Title and Edina Realty Mortgage.

Richard Talley, 56, founder and chief executive officer of American Title Services in Centennial, Colo., passed away Feb. 4. He and his company were subjects of an investigation by the Colorado Division of Insurance. Details on the investigation have not yet been made available.

2014 has been labeled the year of implementation, and when it comes to data security, there are no exceptions. Title insurance and settlement services professionals will be on alert this year, taking numerous actions to protect their company’s dollars, data and customer information.

 But what is required for protection? Where are the troublesome areas? What should you implement and how? What are the costs associated with implementation?

 The Legal Description and sponsor Real Estate Data Shield have teamed up to offer an educational webinar to provide answers to these questions and, specifically, to instruct on what it means to “implement” to ensure data security compliance. The webinar will be held Thursday, Feb. 20, 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET and features three data security, information technology and privacy law experts: Matthew Froning, chief information officer, Security Compliance Associates; Richard Purcell, chief executive officer, Corporate Privacy Group; and Paul Schwartz, professor of law at Berkeley Law School and director, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.

The Title Report attended the first LandTitle Compliance and Technology Conference Feb. 7 in Orlando. The event included speakers from RynohLive, WFG, SoftPro, Adeptive, Windward Consulting, Simplifile, FinalTrac, LandTech and many more. Over the next few weeks, the October Research, LLC publications will be writing about these sessions and talking about the link between compliance and technology.

Read on for one speaker’s remarks on technology’s impact.

Attorney’s Title Guaranty Fund Inc. of Illinois elected Ward McDonald as chair of the board of directors for the organization, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2014. As the 2014 chair, McDonald will preside over board meetings, have a seat on key ATG committees and interact with ATG’s executive staff on long-range planning and financial decisions that affects the company. Other elected directors include Peter Birnbaum, James Hallene, Aurora Abella-Austriaco, James Grant, Murphy Hart, John Heutsch and Jonathan Sherry.

The Title Consumer Shopping Tools Working Group has been gathering to determine the feasibility of promoting effective consumer shopping for title agents and insurers without delaying real estate closing schedules. The group is considering developing best practices for the design and implementation of title cost comparison guides for consumers. The organization is working with states across the country to develop these guides that would be applicable in each state with their differing laws.

Read on for details.

North American Title Insurance Co. added Christy Hennesey as its agency service representative in its Florida office. She brings experience with major title insurance underwriters and sales to the NATIC Florida team.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released its final rule on the integrated mortgage disclosures under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Not much time has passed since industry members had to implement a new Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 form under the 2010 RESPA reform. Similar to that reform, preparing for this new rule will require extensive staff training, retooling and systems upgrades to ensure compliance.

RESPA News and Dodd Frank Update have teamed up to provide industry professionals with two training webinars that deliver in-depth instruction on the impactful provisions of the new regulations. Sponsored by WFG National Title Insurance Co., Part 2 of the Mortgage Disclosure Forms Training Series airs Thursday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. ET. 

First National Corp., the parent company of First Bank, reported record annual and quarterly earnings. Net income totaled $10 million, or $1.85 per basic and diluted share, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013. For the fourth quarter of 2013, net income totaled $7.5 million, or $1.49 per basic and diluted share.

Adeptive announced that First American Title Insurance Co.’s AgentNet is now integrated with Adeptive’s ResWare platform, allowing users to generate approved First American Closing Protection Letters (CPLs). The integrated technology allows title agents to work more conveniently and efficiently with First American. The ability to quickly generate approved First American CPLs from within the ResWare platform eliminates the need to rekey data.

FNF announced its plan to create a tracking stock for its portfolio company investments. FNF would contribute these portfolio company investments into a new subsidiary, Fidelity National Financial Ventures and create and distribute a class of shares to FNF shareholders that tracks the performance of FNFV.

All add-on investments in existing portfolio companies and any new portfolio company investments will be funded and managed by FNFV. Cash flow from FNF’s core real estate, technology and mortgage related businesses will be used to reinvest in core operations, repay debt, pay dividends and repurchase stock.

Read on for more information on FNFV and FNF's quarterly dividend and its fourth quarter 2013 conference call.