Housing Wire

MAY 23, 2023

announced on Tuesday the completion of an agreement for WFG to acquire certain branches of Doma’s West Coast local retail title operations. The deal includes multiple retail title locations and operations centers in the Northern and Central California regions. Williston Financial Group (WFG) and Doma Holdings, Inc.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 9, 2023

The title insurance industry is often bemoaned for being antiquated and making minimal changes, but that has not been the case for the past 12 months. The program would grant certain mortgage lenders a waiver on title insurance requirements for loans sold to Fannie Mae and will be rolled out this spring, according to Politico.

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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 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

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

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

The title insurance industry saw a surge in premium volume in the second quarter of 2020, according to the American Land Title Association’s latest Market Share Analysis. But title insurance premiums are also surging as a result. The title insurance industry generated $4.18 This is up 8% from the same period last year.

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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

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

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

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Pro Teck’s added scale and capabilities take us one step closer to becoming the premier title services company, allowing us to increase our services for our customers.”. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, United States Appraisals provides residential management solutions on a nationwide level.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 22, 2024

Power of a title company Samson Properties , a rapidly growing brokerage based in Northern Virginia, has taken a different approach. The company relies on its title company as a way to capture and convert leads. “We We own a title company and we’re really pushing that title capture rate.

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Housing Wire

JULY 28, 2023

Like its big four counterparts First American and Old Republic, Stewart , the smallest of the four largest title underwriters , still managed to turn a profit despite challenging housing market conditions. Stewart’s title segment also recorded a drop in its operating revenue, which fell 39% year-over-year $466.7

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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

AUGUST 9, 2023

Despite a 18% annual decline in purchase title orders opened per day in Q2 2023, Fidelity National Financial executives believe housing demand remains strong. Nolan’s assertions about the housing market were underlined by the strong performance of Fidelity’s title segment during the quarter.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) on Monday issued a statement outlining examination principles related to valuation and appraisal discrimination or bias in residential lending. These standards can harm a residential lender beyond any identified violations, the statement explained.

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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

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

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

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

MAY 4, 2023

During the first quarter of 2023, the Big Four title insurer reported revenue of $2.474 billion, down from $3.167 billion in Q1 2022, and a net income of $59 million compared to $400 million a year prior. Fidelity’s title segment reported revenue of $1.6 billion for the quarter, down from $2.4

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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 28, 2023

Old Republic’s title segment also struggled with net premiums and fees earned during the quarter dropping 41.6% million, the result of lower revenues in both direct and agency title operations. For Old Republic , the softer market results in total revenue falling from $2.207 billion in Q1 2022 to $1.759 billion in Q1 2023.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

In 2021, Gigliotti created Axis 360 Lift , an online academy designed to educate aspiring mortgage and title professionals. Axis has lending and title academies, with an origination academy set to launch in the spring of 2024. Gigliotti noted that Axis recently secured three student internships on the title side. were women.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2023

Seelig will focus on assisting the organization in their mission of providing financing to the residential mortgage market, Almodovar added. residential real estate mortgages. Fannie Mae currently backs nearly $4.1 trillion in U.S.

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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

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

It is no secret that 2021 posed a variety of challenges for the title insurance industry. In the title sector, pretax income increased 25% year over year. Total direct title revenue grew 24% from a year prior to $423.1 Non-commercial domestic title revenue was responsible for $282.3 million compared to $154.9

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Housing Wire

JULY 28, 2022

“While we are reporting decreases in revenue and pretax operating income for this quarter, it is important to keep in perspective that these comparisons are to a year that saw record-setting demand for housing and investments in the real estate market,” Old Republic Title President Carolyn Monroe told investors. year over year to $109.5

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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

JUNE 22, 2021

Austin, Texas-based Enverus announced its acquisition of Integrity Title Company , a provider of title plant access in Texas and New Mexico. In a statement, Enverus said it plans to integrate Integrity Title’s technology into a new online platform called Integrity Title Plants.

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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

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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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

In 1983, the Federal Trade Commission published a study titled “The Residential Real Estate Brokerage Industry,” which detailed NAR’s historic use of fee schedules and highlighted that, prior to 1950, it was against the trade group’s code of ethics to charge less than a standard commission rate. And it never will.”

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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. A look at the role instant title plays in the borrower journey. Learn about the tools lenders should leverage to streamline home equity title and closing.

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