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The Title Report Print Edition
April 2, 2012
In this edition of The Title Report, we follow up on a big story from 2011, concerning the dangerous short sale closing environment. Specifically, Freddie Mac had crafted affidavits that lenders were adding to their closing instructions in order to help prevent short sale fraud. It was a good idea with side effects that put too much liability on the closing agent. These affidavits were fought and altered last year, but a recent Webinar noted that lenders are still using the old affidavits and not the replacements. Also inside the edition we have a look at Fidelity’s new claims processing technology and protocol and a follow up to our vendor management feature from a few months ago. |
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ALERT: Donald P. Kennedy passes away at age 93
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
First American Financial Corp., announced that its Chairman Emeritus Donald P. Kennedy passed away on March 24 at the age of 93. During his career with First American, Kennedy helped to lead the company's extraordinary growth from a one-office firm in Santa Ana into a global FORTUNE 500 company and helped introduce many of the technological innovations that transformed the title insurance industry.
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 Market Snapshot: See which region dominated February closings
Posted Date: Friday, March 23, 2012
The Market Snapshot for February, brought to you by The Title Report
and eLynx, shows the percentage breakdown of closings across the
country. See which reason has led the way for seven months and just
dominated the month of February.
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Communication innovation: Communicating beyond the closing
Posted Date: Friday, March 23, 2012
Mortgage transactions are a muddled concoction of interests, and the
title agent is the straw that stirs it to make the end product palatable
for all parties. The title industry needs to send documents, relay
information, explain nuances and rules, be courteous and do it all in a
timely fashion. The key ingredient in this entire process is
communication, and here in 2012, there are no shortage of new strategies
and technologies available for doing so more effectively than ever
before. Read on for part three
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Homebuilder news roundup: Fraud, bankruptcy and soaring stocks
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Title Report rounds up all of the most recent news on the
homebuilder customer segment. Story snippets include homebuilder
confidence, stock upgrades, the bankruptcy of a Las Vegas homebuilder
and the fraud indictment of another in Maryland.
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Alliant National brings aboard new chief claims counsel, vice president
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Alliant National Title Insurance Co. announced that it hired a chief
claims counsel and vice president. Her responsibilities include serving
Alliant National in all areas of claims management, claims processing
and policy-related litigation. Read on for more.
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Mortgage servicers ranked for year-end 2011 performance
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Fannie Mae announced its STAR Program Performance Scorecard results for
year-end 2011. The STAR Program was created to establish standards and
recognize excellence among Fannie Mae servicers in their overall
performance, customer service and foreclosure prevention efforts. Read
on for more from this year’s scorecard.
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ALTA battles rising costs for small business during forms debate
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The American Land Title Association (ALTA) wrote a March 13 letter to
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding the bureau’s
new mortgage disclosure form prototypes, specifically focusing on the
costs that will hit the small businesses that make up much of the title
insurance industry. Read on for how the group broke down the various
costs as well as its proposed solutions.
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Title Resource Group to add 200 title, settlement service jobs
Posted Date: Friday, March 16, 2012
Title Resource Group (TRG), a full-service title, settlement and vendor
management services company, has announced plans to significantly expand
its workforce to meet the rising demand for its services brought on by
new business volume added in the first quarter of 2012. Read on for more
information, including how you can apply.
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Attorneys Title revamps websites for its 4 title agencies
Posted Date: Friday, March 16, 2012
Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Attorneys Title Agency (ATA) announced
that it has revamped the company’s four websites in order to improve the
experience and for its clients. Read on for more from this
announcement.
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Foreclosure reports show trends of slow down, differing predictions
Posted Date: Friday, March 16, 2012
Two of the major players in real estate data and analytics updated their
statistics on the more recent foreclosure data, which shows the
continuing trend of a slowdown in the market. Read on for the two
separate data sets and the different conclusions that were drawn.
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Proceed with caution: Lenders not following protocol, agents still liable during short sales
Posted Date: Friday, March 16, 2012
A big story from 2011 was the precarious position title agents found
themselves in while working short sales. There was a top down initiative
in the mortgage industry to add new language into the process that made
the agent legally responsible for events and information that were
beyond the call of duty. A recent Webinar from the American Land Title
Association indicated that these concerns have not totally gone away.
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Alliant National adds agency manager for Texas
Posted Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012
Alliant National Title Insurance Co. announced that the company has
brought in a senior vice president and Texas agency manager. He will be
responsible for developing, marketing and managing Alliant National’s
Texas agency operations and working with Alliant National’s senior
management in expanding the company’s agent partnership programs in
Texas. Read on for more information.
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Housing affordability index hits record high
Posted Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012
Housing affordability conditions have reached the highest level since
recordkeeping began in 1970, according to the National Association of
Realtors. NAR’s Housing Affordability Index rose to a record high 206.1
in January, based on the relationship between median home price, median
family income and average mortgage interest rate. Read on for more from
this report.
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Adeptive, TurboDeed partner for streamlined deed preparation
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Adeptive announced its most recent partnership with TurboDeed, a
division of US Deeds Inc. The partnership allows users of ResWare to
electronically submit orders to TurboDeed for preparation of deeds and
related transfer tax forms throughout the United States. Read on for
more information.
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North American Title continues expansion, enters new Western state
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
North American Title Insurance Co., a title insurance underwriter,
announced its recent expansion into a new Western state. Effective
immediately, the carrier’s title insurance products are available
through its affiliated agency, North American Title, and through select,
independent agency partners in the area.
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Madison Title Agency names new director of Texas operations
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Madison Title Agency, a full-service, nationwide title agency affiliated
with Madison Commercial Real Estate Services, named a new director of
Texas operations and state counsel. Read on for more from the
announcement.
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Stewart adds new VP of national business development
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Stewart National Title Services announced the addition of a vice
president, national business development who will be responsible for
expanding Stewart’s national commercial business. Read on for more from
the announcement.
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Two-man team pleads guilty to fraud; settlement agent gets 6 years
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
A Maryland settlement agent was sentenced to six years in prison for his
connection to a five-year fraud scheme that involved 17 properties and
nearly $5 million in misused funds. Read on to see how he and an
accomplice committed the crime and hid it from consumers and lenders.
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Inside look at Fidelity’s new claims processing system
Posted Date: Monday, March 12, 2012
Fidelity National Financial is the largest title insurance company in
the country. According to the latest report from the American Land Title
Association, Fidelity had 37 percent market share, topping its closest
competitor, First American Financial, by 10 percent. A company that size
can run into process and efficiency obstacles, which is the reason the
Innovation Group — a business process outsourcing and software company —
approached it. Read on for the details of Innovation Group’s analytics
implementa
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Home prices down in February, but stabilizing
Posted Date: Monday, March 12, 2012
Clear Capital released its Home Data Index (HDI) Market Report with data
through the end of February 2012. The HDI Market Report uses a broad
array of public and proprietary data sources to include data current up
through the previous month.
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Report: Mortgage fraud filings up 20 percent
Posted Date: Friday, March 09, 2012
A report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) showed
that mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity report filings were up 20
percent year over year in the third quarter of 2011. Read on for more
findings from the report, including the types of suspicious activity on
the rise.
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Title Resources Guaranty adds two veteran title execs
Posted Date: Friday, March 09, 2012
Title Resources Guaranty Co. appointed two veteran title executives to
lead its Texas Agency team in the roles of senior vice president and
vice president. Read on for more information from this announcement.
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NextAce boasts labor, cost benefits of its search platform
Posted Date: Thursday, March 08, 2012
NextAce Corp., a provider of
automated real estate data, issued a report saying that its patented
title production and workflow platform has now saved the title industry
more than $100 million in labor and production costs. Read on for more
from NextAce.
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Purchases slightly up again as overall applications fall
Posted Date: Thursday, March 08, 2012
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage
applications decreased from one week earlier, but purchase activity —
while still at low levels — maintained slight upward momentum. Read on
for more.
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Independence Title buys HQ building, moves into Houston
Posted Date: Thursday, March 08, 2012
Austin, Texas-based Independence Title Co. is moving up in the world.
The agency opened its doors in 2005 and has worked to become the largest
independently owned and operated title company in Texas. The company
added an exclamation point to this growth by officially purchasing the
building that will serve as the company’s headquarters starting in 2013.
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North American Title Co. beefs up fraud protection for agency base
Posted Date: Thursday, March 08, 2012
As the cover story in our latest edition illustrates, there can never
be enough fraud protection. One industry underwriter has taken action on
that statement by entering into a relationship with RynohLive. Read on
for all of the details and what this means for NATIC’s agents.
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Fitch issues report about Old Republic liquidity 'uncertainty'
Posted Date: Thursday, March 08, 2012
Old Republic International Corp. published its year-end 2011 10-K and
annual report to shareholders, and some of the numbers reported
concerned Fitch Ratings, which has kept the company under Rating Watch
Negative. Read on for more analysis from Fitch about what has raised
this concern and what events could affect the company’s rating going
forward.
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