News By Edition

Numerous title insurance industry technology leaders sat down with The Title Report to detail career observations and how the sharing of knowledge has helped push advancement over the last 25 years.

They touched on market shifts, the challenges of adopting new platforms, the importance of collaboration, what to expect in the future and much more.

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The Federal Reserve is cutting the federal funds rate one last time before the end of 2024 following the December meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee.

Members agreed to lower rates by 25 basis points to 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent, marking the third rate reduction of the year.

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Public land records moving from paper to digital is changing numerous title insurance industry workflows, even as some local government record keepers struggle to make the transition.

Industry experts shared their thoughts with The Title Report in areas including eRecording technology, the risk of fraud and unauthorized access and emerging technologies like blockchain.

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Closinglock and Docusign have integrated, placing Docusign’s electronic signature and document management capability into the Closinglock platform.

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Texas-based Executive Title Co. has tapped a 30-plus year title insurance, technology and financial services veteran as its new president.

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An uptick in early-stage homebuying activity is continuing, despite high home prices and mortgage rates, according to new data from Redfin.

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Mike Schwab, CEO and founder of Association Online, offered advice on “navigating chaos” and overcoming modern workplace challenges in the title insurance industry.

This time of year can be especially challenging in the real estate market. When he asked audience members to describe the next three months in their business in one or two words, the responses ranged from “stable” to “questionable” and “insanely busy.”

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Title insurance premium revenue rose by just over 5 percent year-over-year in the third quarter, according to the American Land Title Association.

Through the first nine months of 2024, title insurance premium volume was up 3.2 percent ($11.8 billion) compared with the first nine months of 2023 ($11.4 billion).

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Accruit has put forth Private Client Group, a boutique 1031 exchange offering focused on providing solutions tailored to individual clients’ goals and objectives.

According to company leadership, the Private Client Group was developed in response to the demand from clients for a 1031 service that wasn't “off the shelf.”

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A recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Title Industry webinar from October Research delved into numerous hot topics including definitions of common AI terms, practical applications and realistic expectations for the technology.

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Stewart Title has used a promotion to fill the seat of division vice president for northern Nevada, picking a long-time senior escrow officer.

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A new report from property data curator ATTOM shows November foreclosure filings down year-over-year nationwide and below levels seen in October.

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A Title Resources Group December workforce reduction affected employees who joined the company upon its acquisition of Doma Holdings, Inc. earlier this year. According to one person affected by the layoffs, the move was announced Friday, Dec. 13, with no prior warnings.

TRG CEO Scott McCall spoke with The Title Report about the layoffs, saying, “There are still plenty of people left from the Doma side.”

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A trio of cybersecurity experts sat down with The Title Report to go over what industry stakeholders must do to stat ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters.

Tyler Adams, CEO and co-founder at CertifID; Andy White, founder and CEO of Closinglock; and Shawn Fox, chief revenue officer of Premier One, agreed that many title companies are struggling to allocate sufficient resources to cybersecurity.

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New data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce showed small-business owners and decision makers struggle with resources allocated to regulatory compliance, citing negative impacts to growth.

The survey also found that 69 percent of small businesses say they spend more per employee to comply with regulations than larger competitors.

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RamQuest has added title-only with advanced invoicing functionality to its SaaS solution, Horizon, aiming to minimize data input and increase workflow efficiency.

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Las Vegas-based ROC Title has added a vice president of sales who earned a recent Emmy nomination for educational short form video production.

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Zillow's 2025 forecast expects only about 100,000 more sales than in 2024, with home value growth nationwide predicted to be just 2.2 percent in the coming year.

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First American Title has added Order Insights, a real-time, transaction-based fraud alert system, to its AgentNet Services platform, company leaders announced.

Order Insights automatically validates transaction data, notifying title agents of file discrepancies and identifying other potential fraud risk indicators as the transaction is entered in AgentNet Services.

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Richard Horn of Garris Horn LLP and Marx Sterbcow of the Sterbcow Law Group provided insight on big issues facing the settlement service industry in 2025, and what to expect in the coming year, in October Research’s “RESPA updates you need to know” webinar.

SoftPro’s Leslie Wyatt moderated the talk, which delved into regulators’ focus on closing costs, affiliated business arrangements and upcoming challenges facing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Main Street has broken a 34-month streak of record high uncertainty, according to new data from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

November was the first month since June 2021 that the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose above the 50-year average of 98, jumping by eight points from October.

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Expedited title research provider AFX Research has integrated with TrustPoint.ai to automate title updates within TrustPoint.ai’s third-party services marketplace.

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Flueid has tapped a new chief revenue officer who recently served on the company’s board of directors, where she advised on the company’s growth and verification of title plans.

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A third quarter home flipping report from ATTOM shows that activity as well as investor profits declined over the measuring period.

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As recruiting and retaining younger workers remains a challenge for the title insurance industry, leaders from Anderson|Biro, Executive Search sat down with The Title Report to shed light on the matter.

They recommended that the industry prepare now for a potential labor shortage on the horizon in the event that housing transaction volume improves with expanded inventory, lower interest rates and other help for homebuyers.

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Stewart Title National Commercial Services is rebranding its specialized Energy Services Group, with its focus remaining on underwriting and closing services for energy and renewables projects.

The Energy Services Group has amassed a portfolio exceeding $100 billion over the past 25 years. Company leaders said the rebrand will come with enhanced work on infrastructure projects and data centers.

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Multiple title insurance experts sat down with The Title Report to go over ways that artificial intelligence is transforming workflows and providing new avenues to efficiency.

Pythonic CEO Matt Younkle, Alanna.ai President Hoyt Mann and Areal.ai CEO Argun Kilic also lent their expertise on risk and fraud protection, customer experience enhancements and more.

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Kensington Vanguard National Land Services has tapped a title industry veteran with nearly 30 years of experience as a senior national commercial escrow officer.

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EverBank announced the launch of a Specialty Deposit division that will serve title insurance companies, escrow firms, 1031 exchange facilitators and property management businesses.

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Pending sales posted a big year-over-year increase in late-November, partly because early-stage homebuying demand just after the election is translating to sales, according to Redfin.

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A new report from Fitch Ratings points to what it perceives to be calmer macroeconomic headwinds in the coming year benefiting title insurers and the broader housing market.

Continued volatility and uncertainty in 30-year mortgage rates could lead to short periods of increased refinance activity, the report added.

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Fathom Holdings announced the expansion of its joint venture into a new Texas market, making it the fourth area in its Lone Star State service net.

The company announced formation of the Texas joint venture this past March, expressing plans to expand the joint venture model across more states in 2024.

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Radian and financial markets digital solution provider R3 have collaborated to speed up processes within Radian’s titlegenius workflow management platform, with added blockchain technology capability.

Changes aim to simplify and speed up the execution of property title transfers and increase visibility of the transaction life cycle, company leaders said.

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National Investors Title Co. has tapped a 20-plus-year title insurance industry veteran to serve as its vice president of agent services and licensing in Texas.

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Michigan-based Sun Title has put forth a new AI-enabled website, providing easy access to information and resources with users choosing a traditional or AI-driven experience.

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New data from ATTOM shows the highest concentration of housing markets at risk of decline in California, New Jersey, Illinois and Florida.

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