Housing Wire

DECEMBER 12, 2024

It was July of 2020 and the interest rates had just dropped below 3%, every Title & Escrow company was slammed! Every title company wanted a great piece of the current refi market and most would do about anything to obtain it.The problem; almost all were late to the party and not prepared.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 10, 2025

As a result, professionals in the title and foreclosure industries must evolve to keep up with upcoming trends. However, long-standing challenges still persist within foreclosure firms, title and escrow companies, and title insurance underwriters. What drew you to the title search industry? We invested close to $1.5

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

If a consumer is in the homebuying process, the fraudster will send false wiring instructions to the homebuyer ahead of closing—often appearing as if they are from a trusted representative in the transaction. The title industry works closely with financial institutions and the FBI to help recover incorrectly transferred funds.

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Housing Wire

MAY 20, 2024

Fraud and forgery claims represented more than one-fifth of the total dollars spent by title insurers on claims expenses and losses over the past decade, according to a study conducted by Milliman and commissioned by the American Land Title Association (ALTA). billion in claims related to losses and loss expenses.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 21, 2022

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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Housing Wire

JUNE 4, 2024

But while a fraud attempt targeting such a famous structure and family would easily make national news, the vast majority of title theft and mortgage fraud schemes do not. Impersonation fraud has risen “sharply” over the past few years according to Sarah Frano, vice president and real estate fraud expert at First American Title Insurance Co.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 16, 2022

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. Title insurance is a comprehensively regulated product.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 4, 2023

Cyberattacks, particularly wire fraud through business email compromise, remain a major concern for the title industry. We sat down with ALTA CEO Diane Tomb to talk about ways title insurance companies can help their customers avoid falling prey to such attempts. Q: How can title companies help homebuyers avoid wire fraud?

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Housing Wire

JULY 6, 2023

Finance of America (FOA) announced Thursday that its indirect subsidiary Incenter closed the sale of its title insurance businesses. The company previously announced that it would be selling its title insurance businesses in early February. for $100 million, according to a filing with the U.S.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

When people think about the title insurance industry , what comes to mind is often its core products – title insurance policies that protect property rights of homeowners and lenders. As an industry, our commitment to protection goes beyond title insurance policies. The bill is being considered in several states nationwide.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 9, 2022

Not many would count the title industry among the economy’s technology leaders. In fact, many title agents will proudly tell you that ours is a “traditional” industry. Of course, many will tell you that those factors are a big part of why the title industry has, at times, seemed a little behind the technology adoption curve.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Seemingly forever, the average time between reaching a sales agreement and closing on that property has hovered around 45 days — a month and a half. When asked why it takes an average of six to seven weeks to get to closing , there are a lot of complex (and honest) answers. But there’s also room for improvement.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

From streamlining title verification to enabling collaborative loan processing and automating key title production tasks, these leaders are helping shape a faster, smarter, and more efficient housing market. We call this process VOT or Verification of Title.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 30, 2024

The title insurance industry is vigorously battling these challenges as it protects Americans’ largest asset, their homes. In fact, a new study notes that nearly all title companies surveyed currently provide or plan to provide education and resources to train employees on fraud.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 29, 2024

Publicly traded real estate technology company Doma Holdings has entered into a definitive agreement to sell to title insurance underwriter Title Resources Group (TRG) and become a private company. Its most recent endeavor is Upfront Title , launched during the third-quarter earnings call with investors and analysts.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2023

The nation’s second largest title insurer , First American , as well as some of its subsidiaries, remain offline as of Wednesday morning in the wake of the title firm’s Dec. One buyer commented: “We wired in full payment for a home that was supposed to close last week. 20 cybersecurity incident.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

Mortgage and title clients are undergoing a significant transformation with the shift from Encompass Software Development Kit (SDK) to Encompass Partner Connect (EPC). However, for many lenders and title agents, the path to compliance can be a bit too much to handle while running a business and dodging compliance risks. Click Here

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 19, 2023

Title insurance is one such proven product with a long history of protecting homeowners’ right to property. Before title insurance, property rights were not guaranteed. But in 1868, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision led to the codification of the incorporation and regulation of title insurance companies into law.

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Housing Wire

MAY 16, 2024

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has launched a new service to handle all the title work for its brokers on refinancings. As a result, brokers no longer need to deal with a title company or settlement agent to close a refi. It said TRAC+ will allow the lender to “manage title review, closing, and disbursement.”

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Even with a sharp rise in interest rates toward the end of the second quarter, the title insurance industry still recorded a relatively strong fiscal quarter, according to the American Land Title Association’s Market Share Analysis. billion in title insurance premium volume, only slightly down from the $6.54 billion in 2022.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 28, 2024

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. The title firm has launched val-ID by Westcor, a tool designed to help title agents validate the identities of home buyers and sellers, according to an announcement on Wednesday. We believe val-ID will significantly benefit Westcor’s title agents and their clients.”

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Housing Wire

JUNE 28, 2023

The real estate listing giant announced on Monday that it is sunsetting its title and escrow provider, Zillow Closing Services. The firm will finish processing all of the title and closing orders in its queue before fully shuttering. As a result of the shutdown, Zillow is cutting 80 positions.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 14, 2023

In 2023, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced plans to make it easier to buy a home and close the racial homeownership gap in the United States. Specifically, title and settlement fees have been characterized as a high-burden and regressive (costing proportionally more for low- and moderate-income borrowers) cost to borrowers.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 24, 2024

In fact, for many new buyers entering the market this year, this will be the first time they ever hear the words “ title insurance.” Against this backdrop, it is critical that new homebuyers and homeowners alike understand what title insurance is, its benefits and the importance of asking about discounts available to them.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 10, 2025

The deal, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both Rocket Companies and Redfin, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2025. Today, Rocket Companies announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase digital real estate brokerage Redfin in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.75 billion in equity.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 28, 2024

Title insurance provides vital protection to the largest and most important purchase most Americans will ever make—their home. ” The agency alleges that so-called hidden “junk fees” in closing costs are at the root of housing affordability challenges. Brad Sherman (D-CA).

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Real estate software provider Qualia is looking to improve how it serves its title company customers. Through the network, Qualia said it hopes to help the title and escrow companies on its platform in reducing operational costs and “increasing efficiency and security via robust bank integrations.”

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

Company Name Company Website Markets Served Company HQ MMI mmi.io/ Loan Origination Cottonwood Heights, UT Paradatec paradatec.com/ Loan Origination, Servicing, Secondary and Closing Wilmington, DE Outamation outamation.com/ Servicing Southlake, TX Orion Lending orionlending.com/ Loan Origination Orange, CA Optimal Blue www2.optimalblue.com/

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Housing Wire

JUNE 17, 2024

Wells Fargo ’s program that provides up to $5,000 in closing costs for low- and moderate-income families to purchase a home has been extended to an additional 16 metro areas, the bank announced on Monday. It can be used to pay nonrecurring closing costs, such as appraisal, processing, title and recording fees.

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Housing Wire

MAY 13, 2024

Title firm Mother Lode Holding Co. , a subsidiary of big four firm First American Financial , announced Monday that it has acquired Wisconsin Title Service Co. the acquisition includes Wisconsin Title Service Co.’s s sister company, Wisconsin Title Closing Service Inc., The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2023

Some say that the nearly 150-year-old title industry has a difficult time adapting and evolving. However, the title industry has proven these critics wrong over the past decade, and importantly, it has done so without leaving homeowners vulnerable to unnecessary risks. Think an old dog can’t learn new tricks?

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Real Estate News

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

Fidelity National Financial, parent company of Chicago Title and more, is blocking access to title and escrow services while it investigates a security breach.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 4, 2025

Remote online notarization (RON) continues to stake its claim as a critical innovation for real estate professionals and homebuyers, opening the door for faster closings and largely eliminating the need for in-person meetings. This proved to be too much for most organizations to manage and, therefore, they chose not to move into the space.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Ill share everything you need to keep the homebuying process running smoothly from your first meeting to closing and beyond. From choosing a property to navigating the closing process, youll need to do a deep dive into their wants, needs, and deal breakers. Think of this as building a roadmap for their homebuying journey.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 18, 2024

Closing software provider Qualia is accusing a former employee and startup title production software firm Settlor of stealing trade secrets. Myers joined Qualia in 2021 through the firm’s acquisition of Resware from Adeptive Software , which closed in December 2020. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S.

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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

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

For more than two years, a storm has been brewing in the title insurance industry. Last week, the first raindrops began to fall when the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG) announced settlements with four title firms over alleged kickback schemes. Because these title firms were all licensed by the D.C.

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