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For Sale By Owners, a unique niche market for one agent
Posted Date: Sunday, February 14, 2016
Gateway Title President Rachel Torchia has grown a successful title business by finding her niche in the market, For Sale By Owners or FSBOs. She told The Title Report she has been educating the consumer about their right to choose their title company directly. Read on to see how this strategy worked for her.
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Conversations with the C-Suite: Alliant to focus on vendor management
Posted Date: Sunday, January 17, 2016
Welcome to the latest Conversations with the C-Suite feature, exclusive to The Title Report. In these features, we talk to the leaders of the industry about their thoughts on the industry, plans for the future and what title agents need to know to succeed. In this edition, Editor Tara Quinn spoke with Alliant National Title Insurance Co. CEO Bob Grubb.
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Stewart to end dual-class stock structure
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Stewart Information Services Corp. proposed a plan to reclassify the company’s common stock to eliminate its dual class structure. The proposed reclassification has been unanimously approved by the company’s board of directors. Keep reading to learn more from Fitch Ratings and Demotech, Inc.
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Work involved to meet lender oversight standards
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Vendor management and consumer protection are top priorities in the title insurance industry. At the recent Louisiana Land Title Association (LLTA) annual conference panelists for the “Who’s your Vendor-Vendor Management for Title Agents” session included Wells Fargo Business Liaison Manager Kate Steineman, Sterbcow Law Group Managing Attorney Marx Sterbcow and WFG National Title Insurance Co. Executive Vice President-Agency Chuck Cain. Read on to learn what they had to say.
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Old Republic creates specialized commercial services division
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. announced the formation of Old Republic Specialized Commercial Services, a business division of its National Services Group. It is organized to provide national commercial due diligence services. Read on to learn more.
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Old Republic: Best fourth quarter ever
Posted Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
If the implementation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule disrupted the mortgage market in the fourth quarter, it certainly didn’t show in Old Republic International Corp.’s bottom line. Old Republic reported a record-setting fourth quarter and full year for its Title Insurance segment in its earnings release Thursday. Read on to learn more.
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Kensington Vanguard Acquires Property Title Group
Posted Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
Kensington Vanguard National Land Services continued to expand its national platform with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Property Title Group LLC. The Parsippany, NJ-based Property Title Group will continue to be co-managed by industry veterans Donald Cohen and Marilyn Henshaw, who retain ownership interests in the company. Read on to learn more.
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Knight Barry makes acquisition, opens new offices
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Knight Barry has announced it acquired Price County Title and Abstract in Phillips, Wis., on Feb. 5 from Corrie and Jim Marquette. Both will stay to run the branch and help add to the staff in that area, Knight Barry said, also announcing five new office openings. Read on to learn more.
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Sun Title expands construction department
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Sun Title Agency announced that it had expanded its construction department, with the goal of turning around draw requests within 24 hours of receiving the required documents. How does it plan to achieve this? Read on for the details.
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Chronos Solutions acquires Commerce Title
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Chronos Solutions acquired Commerce Title and Closing Services. This move broadens its title and settlement services offerings in California, the company said. Read on to learn more.
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Success Mortgage Partners grows again
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Success Mortgage Partners, Inc., a Plymouth-based full residential retail mortgage lender, announced continued expansion. The company has doubled its size consecutively for two years and hired more than 200 employees, it announced. Keep reading to learn more.
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Title Alliance receives SOC 1, SOC 2 attestation
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Title Alliance engaged Oread Partners LLC to perform both a SOC 1 and SOC 2 audit of its financial controls and various company systems. The process took approximately six months to be completed. Read on to learn more.
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MISMO updates standards
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
MISMO has updated its residential standards in support multiple regulatory and industry reporting requirements. This update has been reviewed thoroughly by a wide range of organizations and industry participants, MISMO said. Keep reading to learn more.
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Digital processes gain traction, Xerox says
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
The paper-intensive home financing process is going digital at an accelerated rate, according to an annual Xerox survey. The results of Xerox’s latest survey, Path to Paperless, point to a rapidly changing mortgage landscape. Read on to learn more.
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FDIC provides cybersecurity framework
Posted Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
In its Winter 2015 Supervisory Insights, the FDIC provided a cybersecurity framework for businesses. It talked about the evolving threat landscape and guidelines banks can follow to improve their cybersecurity. Read on to learn more.
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National Cyber Security Alliance: Privacy is good for business
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
The National Cyber Security Alliance is providing guidelines to help secure private information online. To meet the needs and expectations of their customers, businesses must address their customers’ concerns about privacy and security by being transparent about the data they collect and use and what they are doing to protect it. Keep reading to learn more.
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2015 saw biggest gains since 2007, RealtyTrac says
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
A new RealtyTrac report shows that U.S. home sellers realized an average price gain since purchase of 11 percent in 2015, the biggest average price gain for U.S. home sellers since 2007. What’s behind the gains? Read on for details from the report.
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NATIC’s names state agency manager for western states
Posted Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
North American Title Insurance Co. named a state agency manager for Arizona, Colorado and Utah. He will oversee agency operations while securing and servicing title agents and approved attorneys throughout those states to promote new and increased business activity. Keep reading to learn more.
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Stewart Lender Services hires loan quality leader
Posted Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
Stewart Lender Services appointed a senior vice president of loan quality while Stewart Title expanded its offerings through zipLogix. Read on to learn more.
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MBA: Mortgage applications decrease
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Mortgage applications decreased 2.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Jan. 29, 2016. Read on to learn more about the change in loan application volume.
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Meridian Title expands tax sale services
Posted Date: Thursday, February 4, 2016
Indiana-based Meridian Title Corp. announced it expanded its tax sale services to five additional states. Read on to find out where Meridian has expanded its services.
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TLTA responds to call for title insurance rate reform
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Two state organizations are calling for reform of the state promulgated title insurance rates in Texas, saying the system prohibits competition in the market. “I’m proud to say that competition is alive and well in the Texas title industry,” Texas Land Title Association President Patti Bonner said in response. Read on for more on the issue, and how to stay informed as it develops.
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NATIC names Eastern regional underwriting counsel
Posted Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2016
NATIC has named a vice president, regional underwriting counsel for the Eastern region. She initially will focus on Indiana and Ohio, but eventually will support NATIC agents along the eastern seaboard and into the south. Keep reading to learn more.
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RealtyTrac report shows equity built in 2015
Posted Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
RealtyTrac, a source for comprehensive housing data, released its Year-End 2015 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, showing that as of the end of 2015 there were 6.4 million U.S. properties seriously underwater. RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said over the past three-and-a-half years, the number of seriously underwater properties has been cut in half. Read on to learn more.
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New-home sales report shows unexpected finish to 2015
Posted Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
Sales of new single-family houses in December 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. Read on to learn more.
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eRecording expands in four states
Posted Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
Simplifile has expanded eRecording in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and North Carolina. President Paul Clifford said the eRecording rate of adoption has continued to grow in the south. Read on to learn more.
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F.C. Tucker Co. partners with DocuSign
Posted Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
F.C. Tucker Co. in Indiana has standardized its real estate transaction process with DocuSign, using DocuSign Transaction Rooms and eSignature. Read on for the details.
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Redfin report: Home prices post biggest increase in 2 years
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Home prices rose higher in December than they did in the 22 months prior, posting an 8.8 percent year-over-year increase, according to Redfin, a real estate brokerage. There were also fewer homes for sale in December than in any other month of 2015. Keep reading to learn more.
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Downpayment amounts rise, LendingTree says
Posted Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
According to LendingTree, average downpayment percentages for a conventional 30-year fixed rate purchase mortgage fell slightly in the fourth quarter. However the average downpayment amount climbed quarter-over-quarter. Keep reading to learn more.
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