News By Edition

Did any of you see “The Dark Knight Rises”? I like Batman, and I was a fan of this latest trilogy of movies, but I might never watch it again. What’s this have to do with the title industry? Read on for more on that, as well as a compilation of title agent reactions and Title Report links regarding the agency vetting controversy.

The Western Region Report looks at Portland, Ore., (Multnomah County) this month. The volume of total dollars insured has been trending generally upward over the past 12 months. The Western Report also ranks the top three title companies in the market in terms of market share gain. Subscribers, read on for more information.

Clear Capital released its Home Data Index (HDI) Market Report with data through August. Top metro markets continued to advance over both the rolling quarter and year. While each of the highest performing 15 metros saw quarterly gains over 4 percent, seven markets posted double digit yearly gains.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Aug. 31. 

The Fidelity National Title major accounts team keeps growing. The company announced the addition of a vice president who will be working out of the San Diego division office with senior vice president/sales manager Vincent Andreucetti.

DataQuick announced a big move into the title insurance space today with the acquisition of Rels Title. The data solutions provider had been slowly moving in this direction after TPG Capital acquired it in January 2011, and this purchase expands DataQuick’s capabilities to serve its growing list of national lending customers. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days. Subscribers, read on for The Title Report’s exclusive interview with DataQuick’s president.

Who are the fastest growing companies in the title and settlement services space? Here are some answers according to the Inc. 5000 list. Inc. is a publication focused on providing information for entrepreneurs and business owners in order to better run and grow their businesses. Each year it publishes a list of the 5,000 fastest growing privately held companies across the country. Here are some companies you might recognize that made this year’s list.

The title insurance industry might not be booming, but it is definitely improving. Premium data for the second quarter showed a bump of nearly 20 percent quarter over quarter to $2.76 billion — a number which includes a percent increase from every state.

While the data from the American Land Title Association (ALTA) Second Quarter Market Share Analysis is mostly positive in the way of total increases, those gains weren’t completely realized by the top national underwriters. The Big Four, while sti

Title and settlement services are often priced as the name suggests: services. Transaction circumstances can change, or the work behind the scenes can be a little more involved or expensive than was expected, and the fees might be re-calculated accordingly. Tim Armbruster, chief technology officer for ClosingCorp, believes it’s time to rethink the service-based pricing mindset in the title and settlement services industry and instead implement a product-based pricing model.

“When you order a servic

Stewart Title of California Inc. named a sales manager of San Diego County. Stewart Title of California is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp. Read on for more about the business development officer promoted to the sales manager position.

An attorney and escrow officer for a Texas title agency pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was indicted along with three others in 2011 for a scheme to defraud residential mortgage lenders.

Real Estate Data Shield, a company that offers data security e-learning products for the title and settlement industry, recently launched a new e-courseware product. Learn more about this title insurance industry-specific solution for data protection and awareness.

North American National Title Solutions (NTS) announced that TitleACE, its exclusive transaction management system, is now available to its national network of title insurance agents and its customers. NTS said customers that could benefit from integrating TitleACE into their operations include national lenders, commercial brokers, law firms, investors and more.

Mortgage bank profits are up in 2012, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an average profit of $2,152 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of 2012, up from $1,654 per loan in the first quarter. Read on for more mortgage banking statistics from the second quarter of 2012.

A South Florida title agent was sentenced to nearly four years in prison and ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution for a bank fraud conspiracy scheme that involved upward of $3.5 million in stolen funds. Out in New Mexico, the former owner of New Mexico Title Co. and New Mexico Title Escrow Co. is suspected of embezzling more than $5 million in gemstones and jewelry from a former business associate and for luring investors into a proposed multibillion-dollar hospital project that went nowhere.

Thomas Title & Escrow opened a new office in downtown Dallas, which marks the firm’s first office outside the state of Arizona. The focus of the new Thomas Title & Escrow office will be commercial title work, which has always been the company’s main concentration. The team of veteran commercial title professionals leading Thomas Title & Escrow’s Dallas office includes: Molly Busch, senior vice president and regional manager; Malachi Boyuls, senior vice president of business development and marke

Fidelity National Financial is still the talk of title industry financial analysts following its Q2 earnings report, the issuance of its $400 senior note and news of its evolving ownership role with Remy International and J. Alexander Corp. S&P and Zacks Equity Research gave their insight into Fidelity’s latest moves and financial outlook.

Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. hired a vice president and director of internal audit to replace Kevin Gauer, first vice president of Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. and chief internal auditor, who retired at the end of August after 27 years with the company.

ClosingCorp, a provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technologies for mortgage lenders, real estate professionals and consumers, launched DART 2.0, an upgraded version of its data service, which provides recording fees, transfer taxes and now filing instructions to expedite the closing process for title and settlement professionals.

School is back in session. Football is around the corner. And title insurance industry conferences and meetings are about to ramp up. This is your primer for the hot spots on the title insurance and settlement services fall conference schedule.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its 1,099-page proposed rule on July 9 regarding the integration of the RESPA and Truth in Lending Act disclosure forms, and it was received with equal parts skepticism and angst by the industry. The sheer length of the proposal has been a lot to digest, not to mention its complexity.

RESPA News and Dodd Frank Update are co-hosting a Webinar to shed light on this proposal and provide instruction on the most impactful piece

North American National Title Solutions (NTS), a company launched by North American Title Group (NATG), appointed Merri Altadonna as the director of national accounts. NTS also announced Brian Johns as division manager last

Adeptive, the developer of ResWare, announced its integration with TitleHound, a comprehensive rate calculator for third party services.

Fitch Ratings has assigned a BB+ debt rating to 10-year, $400 million senior unsecured debt offering announced by Fidelity National Financial this week. FNF’s new $400 million 5.5 percent debt issuance matures on Sept. 1, 2022. Read on for what Fitch had to say about the debt offering and FNF’s overall strategy and position going forward.

Mortgage applications decreased 7.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Aug. 17. 

WFG National Title Insurance Co. announced that industry veteran Norman Gutzmer has been retained to assist its Texas agencies with underwriting counsel. Gutzmer is based in Amarillo, Texas. Read on for more.

Old Republic International Corp. has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock. This is the 31st consecutive year that Old Republic has boosted its cash dividend rate. Read on for the details.

A new company has formed to work with warehouse bankers and mortgage lenders in order to tackle the emerging trend of title/closing agent verification. Secure Settlements Inc. is an independent evaluation and risk management firm that specializes in the vetting and ongoing monitoring of closing professional identity, background and credentials in order to reduce fraud, manage risk, and meet recently mandated federal regulatory requirements. Subscribers, read on for more about the company and our interview w

Sales of existing homes rose in July even with constraints of affordable inventory, and the national median price is showing five consecutive months of year-over-year increases, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Imagine seeing a thread sticking out of your shirt right now. You pull on it real hard to yank it out, but you just pull out more thread. So you keep pulling — more thread. Soon, your entire shirt has unraveled. This shirtless, fictional you isn’t too dissimilar to what’s happening to the loan closing process if the line numbering is changed as it is proposed to be in the final rule proposal from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Lender relationships are hugely important in the title industry, and there are specific proposed rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that could affect these going forward. Consider the following points about downward pricing pressure possibilities, affiliated business relationships and others raised on an industry webinar this week.

The word “regulation” carries an inherently negative connotation, but one of the proposed final rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — the “three-day rule” that mandates buyers receive the closing disclosure three days before closing — might be good for your title business. Read on for how you can capitalize.