Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

Stewart Title has acquired Las Cruces Abstract and Title according to an announcement made Friday. Founded in 1926, Las Cruces Abstract and Title serves Dona Ana, Hidalgo and Luna Counties in southern New Mexico. How to solve communication breakdowns in the title workflow. Presented by: CoreLogic. million compared to $55.9

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Housing Wire

MAY 11, 2022

Title insurers big and small can’t seem to escape rapidly deflating refinance volume, but Fidelity National Financial still pulled out the second-best quarter ever for title revenue in Q1 2022. A total of 522,000 direct title orders were opened during Q1 2022 compared to 770,000 direct title orders a year prior.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2022

While large title insurers like Stewart , First American and Old Republic have been making headlines for their voracious acquisitions appetite, smaller players too are looking to expand their piece of the pie. On Tuesday, Farmington, Michigan-based ATA National Title Group announced its acquisition of Absolute Title on Tuesday.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 12, 2022

HousingWire recently spoke with Matt Regan, EVP of Transaction Management Systems at Flueid , about the need to redefine “instant title” to focus on adding value to loan evaluation and decision-making rather than just delivering the title commitment faster. A faster title commitment should equal a faster closing, right?

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

The two Big Four title insurers announced their fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, hosting earnings calls with investors and analysts. Stewart’s title segment reported an operating revenue of $581.6 Stewart’s title segment reported an operating revenue of $581.6 At Stewart , Q4 revenue came in at $665.9 million, down from $85.5

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Housing Wire

JUNE 25, 2021

New York-based Kensington Vanguard National Land Services recently acquired Hometown Title and Escrow , a title company based in Virginia. Hometown Title and Escrow is led by industry veteran Sharon Keegan and serves both residential and commercial transactions in the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 19, 2023

So you’ve been using the same outdated title production software for years and feel like you’re no longer getting the most bang for your buck. The four most common questions we hear from title professionals about their concerns with switching their software are: What are the benefits of switching? Will our data be safe?

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Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Nearly half (48%) of a $65 billion portfolio of loans processed during the first quarter of 2024 contained vulnerabilities to wire and title fraud , according to a report released Wednesday by FundingShield. The portfolio of loans examined included residential, commercial investor and business purpose loans. of transactions.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2021

As housing professionals navigate regulatory changes and accelerated tech adoption, wire and title fraud risk factors in mortgage and real estate closings increased almost 90% in the last quarter. Regulatory changes and challenges. Lenders could begin using the new URLA form, which includes 48 new data points, on Jan.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

Let’s face it: joint ventures (JVs) and affiliated business arrangements (ABAs) are all the rage in the residential real estate space right now. Market conditions have certainly trended downward for residential or commercial real estate. And why not? CRE firms are also suffering through the highest interest rates seen in years.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 14, 2022

Fannie Mae generated some buzz last week when it announced it would be accepting written attorney opinion letters in lieu of a title insurance policy “in limited circumstances.”. In an email, Fannie Mae confirmed that the impetus for this change was that the use of AOLs could potentially reduce title costs for borrowers.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 13, 2021

Title insurers wrote $19.2 billion in premiums last year, but a recent report from the American Land Title Association predicts a slowdown in 2021 due to – you guessed it! – Just how fruitful was 2020 for title insurers? Old Republic reported a 20% increase in title insurance income for the full year in 2020, rounding out at $3.29

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Housing Wire

JUNE 30, 2021

Data analytics giant CoreLogic announced on Wednesday the acquisition of closing cost data and tech provider ClosingCorp. Previously, ClosingCorp integrated CoreLogic’s Property Tax Estimator into its SmartFees service and closing platforms in 2018. Further details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 8, 2021

North Carolina-based Verus Title , a subsidiary of Fathom Holdings , has added offices in the Lone Star State. Verus Title will be focusing on expanding its presence primarily in North Texas, according to Paul Yurashevich, Verus Title founder and president. ” Verus is planning a full U.S.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 2, 2021

Add the fact that lenders are not only dealing with a remote workforce these days, which is an operational challenge in itself, they are also facing a major shortage of qualified appraisers, underwriters and other operational staff in certain markets, which could cause even longer closing delays. It’s easy to see why. Altisource does.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 11, 2021

Have you budgeted for closing costs? Before you get overwhelmed, take comfort that critical milestones of home inspection, appraisal and closing processes are all great ways to get more acquainted with your prospective new home. Should the appraisal come in lower than the contract price, the closing process may be impacted.

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Housing Wire

JULY 31, 2022

Trusted by over 1 million users, NotaryCam’s eClose 360 platform allows borrowers to close anytime from pretty much anywhere. NotaryCam’s customers are the first to express their satisfaction with the company’s future-thinking approach to closings. The pandemic has brought extra hurdles for everyone. Rick Triola.

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Housing Wire

MAY 3, 2023

Stavvy , a fintech company specializing in digital and remote collaboration for lending and real estate companies, announced on Wednesday a new partnership with WFG National Title Insurance Company (WFG) to provide the company and its customers with eClosing technology solutions.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Another “Big Four” title insurer announced its fourth quarter earnings and yet again the numbers reached historic highs. The firm attributed this impressive increase to its title sector’s strong performance. The firm attributed this impressive increase to its title sector’s strong performance. billion, with $1.0 in Q4 and 21.7%

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Housing Wire

APRIL 27, 2023

“The sharp decline in affordability driven by mortgage rates above 6%, along with low inventory and elevated home prices , adversely impacted the housing market, and as a result, our residential purchase business,” Ken DeGiorgio, the CEO of First American , told investors Thursday morning. million net income, down from $97.9

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Housing Wire

APRIL 28, 2022

After a record breaking year in 2021 , 2022 is off to a slow start for “big four” title insurer First American Financial. Second, we are the only title company that has a bank which will enable us to capitalize on higher interest rates to a greater extent than our competitors.”. The Guide to Accelerating Closings in 2022.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2021

The venture-backed title company Doma announced the expansion of its Doma Intelligence platform to Washington, Utah, Maine, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky on Monday. residential real estate market based on gross written premiums. Appraisal feels so much like title and escrow appeared to us five years ago,” Simkoff explained.

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Housing Wire

MAY 22, 2024

This is according to a jointly issued brief published this week by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and AARP. Many states will now need to take a close look at their tax foreclosure laws to make sure that they are aligned with the precedent set by Tyler.

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Housing Wire

JULY 27, 2021

The arms race is heating up in title. Big Four title insurer Stewart Title has acquired Title First Agency , headquartered in Westerville, Ohio. Title First has office locations in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Texas, and is licensed to operate in 34 states, the company said in a press release.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 11, 2023

The rule, which department officials first said they planned to implement in 2021, would require real estate professionals, such as title insurers, to report the identities of beneficial owners buying real estate in cash to FinCEN. real estate. As of mid-August 2023, 34 cities and counties throughout the U.S.,

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 26, 2023

Thursday was a big day for title firm earnings, with three of the Big Four title insurers reporting their third-quarter 2023 earnings. Despite what Eppinger called a “ challenging environment ” the title segment of the firm continued to perform well, although not as well as a year ago. million, down from $716.4

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Housing Wire

JUNE 8, 2023

Fannie Mae dropped a bomb on the title insurance industry in April 2022, when it adjusted its selling guide to allow the purchase of loans using attorney opinion letters (AOLs). The title I have used to frame this discussion for the past few months is ‘storm warning or calm seas?’”

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Even though revenue is down and open title orders are down from last year, there’s a silver lining for Big Four title insurance firm Fidelity National Financial : it’s still in line with business in 2019, one of the best years on record. Fidelity’s title segment recorded revenue of $2.3 billion, down from $2.9

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 27, 2023

The rapidly cooling housing market in 2022 was not kind to Big Four title insurer Old Republic. Hampered by the volatile interest rate environment and dramatic drop off in refinance transactions, the firm’s title insurance sector saw its pretax operating income drop 67.2% million, down from $627.0 million in Q2 2021.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 12, 2022

First American Financial Corporation , the second largest of the “Big Four” title insurers, announced plans to acquire Mother Lode Holding Company and its subsidiaries on Wednesday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. Presented by: ServiceLink .

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

“At the beginning of 2021, we announced our intention to expand our title plant footprint from 500 counties to 1500 by the end of that year. Leveraging our proprietary data extraction technology, we are currently maintaining more than 1,600 title plants covering nearly 80% of the U.S. population.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 30, 2022

The title insurance space isn’t generally known for placing outsized bets on technology. Hurst: Over the first few years of our venture investment activities, we predominantly invested in new models for engaging customers and stakeholders in the residential purchase market. As of Sept. Is this something you are thinking about?

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Housing Wire

MAY 17, 2024

Horton closed 87,801 homes in its homebuilding operations, as well as 6,248 single-family rental homes and 2,536 multifamily rental units in its rental operations. Through its subsidiaries, the company offers mortgage financing, title services and insurance agency services. During the 12-month period ending March 31, D.R.

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Housing Wire

MAY 24, 2021

It’s the moment everyone fears: in the frenzy to close a house sale, commitment to fraud preventions falters. Instead of questioning email directions from their agent, title insurer or lender, the consumer hits ‘reply.’. Trying to keep with the drive to the finish line, the harried consumer let down their guard.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 18, 2021

In December, AmTrust Title Insurance Company announced the hiring of seasoned underwriter Mary Shelley as its midwest region agency underwriter. Real estate agents began transitioning to virtual home tours and online closings, brokers joined the online verification game and even some appraisal companies transitioned to online avenues.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

“Big Four” title insurer First American Financial Corp. Also announced by the title insurer was a total of $1.1 segment pretax margin of title insurance and services. The company closed over one million transactions while most of our people were working from home. announced a healthy $7.1 Net income was $696.4

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 19, 2022

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network , or FinCEN, is floating a proposed anti-money laundering rule that could impose reporting mandates on a broad swath of professionals in the residential real estate market, including real estate agents, brokers, attorneys, title insurance companies and settlement agents.

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