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Why lenders should be asking for a title check at loan application

Housing Wire

As a follow-up, HousingWire sat down with Peter Richter, co-founder and president at Flueid, to discuss why mortgage lenders should be asking for a quick, data-driven title check at loan application, rather than an instant title commitment, to understand and verify what’s going on with a property and consumer from the start.

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ALTA: Protecting property rights with title insurance

Housing Wire

For most real estate industry professionals, title insurance needs no introduction. A trusted product , title insurance has been used to protect real estate transactions and property rights for over a century. Title insurance is different than most other insurance products. Diane Tomb, ALTA CEO Contributor.

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Opinion: Improving housing affordability without exposing homebuyers to more risk

Housing Wire

While mortgage rates will likely fall this year, conversations about how to increase accessibility to homeownership are still top of mind — and should be top of mind — across the real estate industry. The title industry embraces efforts to help increase homeownership accessibility.

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Opinion: Title insurance is vital to protecting the American dream

Housing Wire

As someone who spent a career in the title insurance industry – both as a builder of a title business and leader of the industry’s trade group, — I am proud of the role we play in helping to protect what most Americans consider the biggest purchase of their lives. Why is a title search necessary for refinancing?

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Homebuyers have many options; let’s make sure they’re aware of them

Housing Wire

The American Land Title Association, alongside our real estate industry partners, are committed to making transactions easier for everyone through consumer education efforts. One of the most important roles we play at ALTA is strongly encouraging buyers to shop around for their title insurance company.

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Opinion: Title and settlement fees aren’t a barrier to homeownership

Housing Wire

The research found that title and settlement fees are neither regressive nor represent a significant component of the overall closing costs. The research also finds that title and settlement fees increase with loan amount (a 1% increase in loan amount is associated with a $7.41 increase in fees).

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Stepping up the fight against fraud in mortgage lending

Housing Wire

Wherever there is commerce, there will be fraud, and the mortgage industry is no exception. In recent years, we have seen a significant uptick in fraudulent activity ranging from the high tech — intercepted wire transfers and electronic title phishing scams — to low-tech, such as applicants submitting falsified or doctored bank statements.

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