News By Edition

The leadership team behind the merger of Cascade Settlement Agency and WebTitle Agency with Customized Lender’s Services discuss the background of the deal, growth opportunities they see and the operational challenges of their new company. Read on for the details.

Steve Acker is the owner of Closergeist, which is a technology consulting and software development firm. He works exclusively with software-producing companies involved in processing real estate transactions, including title underwriters, mortgage companies, vendor managers, etc. We contacted Steve for a chat about his history in the industry and what he thinks is the wave of the future.

WFG National Title Insurance Co. announced the hiring of a new vice president and manager of the Louisiana and Mississippi Agency group. Read on for more.

A Maryland settlement agent was sentenced to over four years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a five-year scheme to divert or hold mortgage payoff funds from clients’ closings on 17 properties. Read on for the details.

Fidelity National Financial Inc, will release 2nd quarter 2012 earnings after the close of regular market trading on Monday, July 23, 2012.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a massive, 1099-page proposed rule on July 9 to accompany its proposed integrated mortgage disclosures under RESPA and TILA. Read on for an overview of the lengthy rule.

Overall, King County has been trending upwards. April 2012 volume is up 14 percent from April 2011 volume, and except for a blip in July 2011 and January 2012, the volume has topped $3 million each month. Subscribers, read on for more, including the biggest gainers in the title market.

In a 60-minute instructional Webinar, two professionals from the title insurance industry will coach participants on what they should be doing now in order to prepare for, what for some is, the biggest business transaction of their life — selling their title business. This Webinar is unique in that it gives title insurance professionals fundamental building blocks on how to strengthen their business currently in order to get the most out of a future valuation. Read on for more.

The president of a Utah title company has been accused of withholding around $325,000 in property sale proceeds from a school district. The executive was charged and is scheduled to appear in the Utah 2nd District Court on July 11. Read on for more information.

The number of counties that are electronically recording documents reached the 800 mark on June 30, according to a study done by a Martin County, Minn., recorder and president of the Property Records Industry Association. Read on for more information on the continuing growth of eRecording.

Reinsurance was always an awkward situation for regional underwriters, as they had to go through the national underwriters — their competitors — in order to obtain it. Then an awkward situation turned into a problematic one as the national players started to lose their risk appetite for reinsurance and pulled back from the market. The few options that have remained for regional underwriters since 2007 have been less than ideal with challenging negotiable terms that are accepted or rejected on a deal-by-deal

The Market Snapshot for July, brought to you by The Title Report and eLynx, showed an improvement and a gain in the Midwest relative to the other regions in the country. Subscribers click through to view the map breakdown of closing percentages.

Stewart Information Services Corp. has named a group president of international operations. This newest appointment will bring Stewart’s executive team to seven members. Read on for more information.

Indecomm Global Services, a business process outsourcing company, is opening a new mortgage lending and servicing solutions outsourcing facility in Charlotte, N.C. to handle processes ranging from loan set up to post closing solutions with emphasis on the areas of processing, underwriting and closing. Read on for more on the new facility.

RedVision, a title report production and real property research solutions company acquired Security Search & Abstract in Pennsylvania back in February, and now the companies have announced, that Security Search & Abstract will take on the RedVision name.

The industry has been patiently awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in First American v. Edwards, a RESPA standing issue case that was argued before the Court in November 2011. The Court finally released its decision, which appeared to be more of an indecision. Find out the details from this not-quite-so landmark case.

The new frontier in the settlement services and mortgage industries is in the world of paperless technology and processes. A patent was awarded to Settleware Secure Services that adds another potential tool to the trade.

Continental Title Group, a full-service commercial and residential title company headquartered in Baltimore, announced the hiring of a vice president and senior underwriting counsel.

WFG Title Insurance Co. announced new hires and the opening of a new office in state of California last week. Read on for all of the details.

The real estate market took a devastating blow during the economic downfall of 2008 and its been slow going ever since. However, many agents are starting to see the light. In a panel discussion at the 2012 National Settlement Services and Compliance Summit, title agents came together to share some success stories they have experienced the last few years. Read on for more.

When Old Republic International (ORI) originally announced its spin-off plan, which was going to place its troubled mortgage insurance segment into a separate subsidiary, its stock rose and credit analysts showed great approval. So when the national insurer retracted that plan after a thorough discussion with its stakeholders, there was bound to be some negative publicity and backlash, regardless of how sound an idea it might be. And that’s what is happening now, with two ratings firms announcing changes in

Stewart Title of California, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., announced the appointment of a division president of Stewart Title of California for Orange and San Diego Counties.

Mortgage applications were riding a high for a few weeks, thanks mostly to refinance activity, but the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows an end to the upward momentum. Read on for more from the weekly results.

Horror stories are told by title agents around the country of data breaching and fraud threats that are damaging the industry. More and more thieves are tapping into title agencies’ escrow accounts and sending fake checks to businesses. A panel discussion at the 2012 National Settlement Services and Compliance Summit discussed the precautions title agencies should take to prevent these attacks.

CoreLogic, a provider of information, analytics and business services, launched the Assignment Validation Report to meet the growing need for mortgage servicers to quickly and efficiently identify the current mortgage beneficiary and document the chain of assignment prior to initiating a foreclosure. Read on for more.

Pending home sales bounced back in May, matching the highest level in the past two years, and are well above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors. Both monthly and annual gains were seen in every region. Read on for comments from NAR’s chief economist on what these numbers say about the overall health of the market.

ATG Title, a national provider of real estate closing services, has partnered with Pioneer Technology Group, developers of YourDox, to provide a secure, green solution for buyers, sellers and borrowers that protects their closing papers and  allows secure access to documents in the future.

Old Republic International Corp. has withdrawn the previously announced spin-off of its troubled Republic Financial Indemnity Group Inc. subsidiary stock to ORI shareholders and the partial buyout has been reversed. These decisions are in response to objections raised by certain stakeholders that RFIG’s separation from Old Republic would be disadvantageous to their interests and expectations. The company explained the rationale for the change in strategy during a conference call Tuesday and addressed multip

Fidelity National Financial Inc. is following through on its plans to build up its restaurant-ownership side, signing a definitive agreement to merge J. Alexander’s Corp. with a subsidiary of American Blue Ribbon Holdings Inc. (ABRH) — a newly formed, majority-owned subsidiary of FNF. Read on for more details about the transaction.

Access to reinsurance for large real estate transactions is one of the significant disadvantages that regional underwriters face when doing business compared to the larger, national underwriters. Five notable regional underwriters have worked to close that gap by forming a reinsurance alliance through Lloyds of London. Read on for more about this announcement.