News By Edition

Title and settlement/escrow expert Karen Koogler sat down for an exclusive interview with The Title Report during April’s Association for Title Information Management Excel conference, touching on numerous ways she suggests the title industry adapt to change.

She says that agencies need to get into the habit of communicating directly with homebuyers regarding the benefits of owner’s title insurance as opposed to alternative products while also finding ways to reduce premium costs with help from other industry stakeholders.

Read on to learn more.

A recent TitleCapture survey summarized in a white paper report shows multiple strategies that title agencies can use to optimize operations for both employees and clients. More than 100,000 real estate agents provided input, according to the company.

By following the recommendations, TitleCapture says companies can streamline their quoting process, enhance client experiences and foster long-term relationships.

Read on to find out more information.

New reporting in the Federal Reserve System’s Beige Book shows little change in economic activity during the most recent six-week measuring period, compared with results from earlier this year.

Nine districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity this period, while three indicated modest growth. Expectations for future growth were mostly unchanged, as well.

Read on to find out more information. 

Millennial Title, Championship Title and MyEListing.com are teaming up on crypto real estate purchase through an integration with Coinbase Commerce.

Dubbed the Accelerated Sale and Purchase program, users will reportedly be able to make use of transaction times expected to be 50 times faster than current averages. The program will roll out to select states in June.

Read on to find out more.

Title marketing firm Bowe Digital added a former title industry professional and two others to its team, the company announced.

Read on to find out more information.

Blend announced that Atlantic Coast Mortgage has signed back on with the cloud banking provider to streamline end-to-end mortgage processes, from application and disclosures to eClosings using Blend’s remote online notarization features.

Read on to learn more.

New reporting from Zillow shows a recent uptick in home inventory, except for the least-expensive houses — bottom-tier inventory is up just 1 percent from last year, compared with a 13 percent boost for top-tier homes.

Read on for more information.

First American Title released a document solution designed to help title agents reduce wire fraud risk and simplify customer communication with automated document and transaction updates.

This new security feature allows title agents to provide their customers with secure access to wire instructions and transaction documents under the protection of multi-factor authentication.

Read on to find out more.

Qualia’s new Audit Readiness Dashboard is designed to allow title and escrow companies to view all exceptions, uncleared items and non-zero orders for every bank account in real time.

The dashboard will be part of Qualia’s reconciliation service and embedded in Qualia Core. Users will be able to quickly examine audit red flags including file shortages, stale overages, outstanding credits and outstanding lienable items.

Read on to learn more.

Title Leader has released a new platform to automate the title search process, reportedly performing 11 time-consuming steps and boosting staff productivity.

Title Leader said the platform benefits that need title search services on commercial and residential properties. These usually include firms doing foreclosure work.It also benefits renewable energy companies.

Read on to find out more information.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. added a new regional sales manager in the Midwest, who comes with more than three decades of experience in residential title insurance sales and marketing to Realtors.

Read on to find out more.

LodeStar Software Solutions is integrating its closing fee calculator with MortgageCTO’s FeeWise disclosure platform, company leaders announced. Read on to learn more.

According to new analysis from First American, ongoing housing market volatility coupled with recent bank failures could spell more conservative lending in the near-future. Read on to find out more.

According to a new State of Wire Fraud report from CertifID, consumer real estate payments were the most consistent target during 2022, with cybercriminals especially focused on cash-to-close payments.

Of the recovery requests for wire fraud last year, 41 percent were buyer cash-to-close transactions, 24 percent were mortgage payoffs, and 11 percent were seller net proceeds, according to CertifID.

Read on to find out more.

Washington state-based NexTitle appointed a new chief operations officer (COO). He has more than 10 years of experience in the title and escrow industry.

Prior to joining NexTitle, the new COO held various leadership positions in the industry, including vice president of the North Idaho Region with TitleOne.

Read on to find out more details.

Title production solutions provider PropLogix’s customers can now use digital payment platform paymints.io for invoices, the companies announced.

PropLogix customers can pay by check, wire transfer, credit card, and now through the paymints.io platform, with designers saying that surveyed businesses said they preferred multiple payment options.

Read on to find out more information about the partnership.

Doma Title Insurance, Inc., has brought on a new central region title production director, who brings more than two decades of experience across multiple industry sectors to the seat. Read on to find out more.

Restb.ai and Black Knight announced a partnership to integrate Restb.ai’s MLS Product Suite into Black Knight’s Paragon MLS platform, offering combined services to Black Knight customers.

Read on to learn more.

Foreclosure filings across the first quarter of 2023 increased by 6 percent compared with the final three months of 2022 and 22 percent compared with the first quarter of 2022, according to new data from ATTOM.

Read on to find out more.

The 2023 Association for Title Information Management (ATIM) Excel Conference takes place this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in downtown Philadelphia, welcoming a large group of title, escrow and real estate professionals.

The Title Report will be on-hand to provide live updates as well as sit down with experts to go over industry issues at hand.

Read on to find out more information.

Digital closing platform Real Title launched Real Escrow of California to operate exclusively in the state, the sixth that the company now has a presence in.

Real Title expects to be operational in at least 10 states by the second half of the year and recently hired a national director of title to help with those plans.

Read on to learn more.

East Tennessee-based 7 Title opened its third office in the Knoxville area and brought on a new office manager for that location, as well as a new company business development executive.

The company has served the Knoxville area for more than two decades and specializes in the settlement of residential and commercial transactions.

Read on to find out more information.

Stewart Information Services Corp. used a promotion to fill the role of head of U.S. direct operations, with another promotion used in related advancement for another employee.

Read on to learn more information.

AREAL.ai released its Closing Disclosure Balancer Automation Tool, an AI-powered solution designed to help lenders and title agencies stay in compliance with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TRID requirements.

Read on to find out more.

New reporting from ATTOM shows the portion of average wages consumed by major homeownership costs as down slightly in the first quarter of 2023 compared with late-2022, even as affordability remains a significant barrier in most markets.

Read on to learn more.

Title and settlement services franchise business TitleEase brought on Texas-based Dash Title as a new franchisee, the companies announced.

 The new franchise has offices in both Tomball and Houston, Texas, and the women-owned agency will serve customers statewide. The Tomball office will celebrate its grand opening on April 20.

Read on to find out more information.

Real estate data provider PropStream, owned by Stewart Title Co., appointed a new CEO, tapping a long-time industry technology leader.

According to PropStream, the new CEO paved the way for new third-party business relationships and partnership opportunities, helping increase product exposure and foster collaborative efforts that helped his previous company  grow.

Read on to find out more.

CATIC brought on a veteran attorney to fill the role of associate state counsel for South Carolina, who company leaders say is a part of CATIC’s expansion across the Southeast.

Read on to find out more. 

Mobility Market Intelligence introduced its new custom dashboard hub, with designers touting improvements in areas such as recruiting, identifying where to adjust prices in metro areas and affordable lending initiatives.

Read on to find out more.

New listings of homes for sale are down 25 percent from a year ago, making it difficult for buyers to find homes but giving some sellers a competitive edge, according to new data from Redfin.

Read on to find out more.

WFG National Title Insurance Co.’s DecisionPoint solution will now include Rapid Legal and Vesting Services, company leaders recently announced.

The DecisionPoint Rapid Legal and Vesting Service provides home equity lenders with fully automated legal and vesting reports – including a recordable legal description from a property’s last full-value transfer.

Read on to find out more information.

Newly expanded coverage from CertifID and Riebling Insurance will give Fidelity National Financial Family of Companies authorized title agencies greater protection against mortgage payoff fraud, according to the companies.

According to a State of Wire Fraud report recently published by CertifID, mortgage payoffs represented 24 percent of cases and nearly half of losses reported to the company’s fraud recovery services last year.

Read on to find out more.

A March Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business shows another month below the 49-year average of 98.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 15 percent of owners are planning to create new jobs in the next three months. Around a quarter (of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions, and a little more reported none.

Read on to find out more.

Stewart Information Services Corp. found a new head of national commercial services, promoting a senior division president who’s been with the company for three years.

Read on to find out more information.

Minneapolis-based CloseSimple attained SOC2 Type II certification after an audit of its system description, documentation and operational evidence, company leaders announced.

Read on to learn more.

Recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows a significant mortgage application increase as 30-year fixed interest rates hit a two-month low.

Read on to find out more.

Community Title Network acquired Virginia-based Esquire Title Group with plans calling for additional acquisitions across other Eastern states.

Esquire Title Group was founded more than a decade ago and its current leader of branch operations will retain that role through the ownership change, according to company leadership.

Read on to find out more information.

A new monthly jobs report from the National Federation of Independent Business shows small-business owners continuing to struggle with unfilled job openings and “labor quality” in ones that are filled.

More than 40 percent (seasonally adjusted) of small-business owners reported job openings they could not fill in March, which was down four points from February.

Read on to find out more information.

Virginia-based Priority Title & Escrow closed on the $335 million Atlantic Park Development in Virginia Beach, which will house a large surfing lagoon, retail space, restaurants and new housing.

The development is Priority’s largest single closed transaction in company history and took five years to finalize. Construction is scheduled to begin the spring

Read on to find out more.

Phoenix-based Landmark Title filled its newly created vice president of sales role for its operations in Nevada. The company operates six offices across the two states.

Read on to find out more information.

Endpoint is launching Jot, a platform to connect notary signing agents with homebuyers and sellers, as well as give notaries access to real estate transactions managed by Endpoint and First American Title.

Read on to find out more.

Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index jumped as prices fell for the sixth-straight week and mortgage rates declined for the third week in a row. But a lack of new listings is holding back sales.

Read on to find out more.

Stewart Information Services Corp. is putting forth a national production services offering for independent agents through ASK Services, which was acquired by Stewart in March 2021.

ASK’s integrated examined search product lets Stewart providers submit and retrieve title search data and documents without leaving their title production systems.

Read on to find out more information.

Pippin Title Inc. of New York City promoted Bobby McLamb to the position of executive director, national sales, the company announced. He previously served as director of sales.

Read on to find out more information.

Latest data provided in the National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Optimism Index points to deflated expectations for better business conditions among respondents.

Those surveyed report inflation as a primary concern with nearly half saying job openings remain difficult to fill. Six in 10 small-business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in February.

Read on to learn more.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. found a new agency representative in the Tampa Bay area. He comes to Westcor with more than a decade of experience in the title industry and related areas.

Read on to learn more.

A new partnership between American Eagle Title Group and Closinglock will reportedly spell enhanced wire transfer security and protection against cyber fraud for both clients and American Eagle Title team members.

This collaboration also allows American Eagle Title Group to integrate an eSigning capability directly into its platform.

Read on to learn more about the partnership.

Stewart Title hired a new senior commercial underwriter who will provide services for commercial real estate transactions across Florida and Georgia. Among his many accomplishments over his career, he authored the mutual indemnification agreement.

Read on to find out more information.