|
PLTA is proud to offer The Title Report RSS feed for visitors
The Title Report
is the title insurance industry’s premier source of market intelligence on issues that matter to today’s title agent and settlement services professional. It provides up-to-the-minute, nationwide reporting on title insurance, settlement services,
e-commerce and title technology, real estate market trends, fraud reports, ratings actions and earnings reports, mergers and acquisitions, niche markets, competitive business strategies and regulatory and legislative updates.
Webinar will feature a demo of filling out FinCEN’s real estate report - Florida Agency Network President Amy Gregory and FincenRealEstateReport.com CEO Charles Wismer answered questions in advance of October Research’s Feb. 5 webinar titled “Countdown to Compliance: A Demo on FinCEN’s Real Estate Report,”
Zynova Tech rolls out automated workshare platform for title industry - The new proprietary workshare platform unveiled by Zynova Tech includes compliance features such as automated checks, secure routing, and built-in safeguards
New CEO comes to Go Companies - The new CEO hired by Go Companies has a mandate to modernize mortgage origination through automation, data-driven decisioning and scalable growth across multiple channels.
First American will offer its customers free property title monitoring service - First American Title Insurance Co. leaders say that eligible customers can receive the firm’s new free property title monitoring and fraud alert service.
Zillow predicts mortgage payments will be affordable in 20 major metro areas by year-end - A market report from Zillow anticipates that a mortgage payment on a typical home will be more affordable by the end of 2026 due to a combination of home value growth, falling mortgage rates and rising incomes.
WFG survey shows company employees in large part feel engaged, empowered - Williston Financial Group’s 2025 employee engagement survey reported the employee experience score rose from 34.4 to 42.4 year-over-year.
First American mourns passing of First American Title vice chairman - Kurt Pfotenhauer, who served as executive vice president and vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Co., is being remembered as “a distinguished leader in our industry” by First American CEO Mark Seaton.
ATTOM acquires ResiShares to strengthen data, analytics platform - ATTOM has acquired the assets of ResiShares in an effort to boost its analytics and technology foundation.
Alliant National Title Insurance promotes staffer to chief underwriting counsel - Alliant National Title Insurance Co. is promoting a new chief underwriting counsel. This individual will be responsible for guiding the firm’s entire underwriting team.
SoftPro announces new integration with First National Title Insurance Co. - SoftPro’s integration with First National Title Insurance Co. paves the way for agents to order title production services from their SoftPro environment and receive the completed documents via the SoftPro 360 vendor portal.
Redfin: Home prices experienced small rise in December - The Redfin Home Price Index found that while prices rose by 0.1 percent month-over-month in December, there has been a gradual slowdown in the rate of price increases since early 2025.
SEC letter clears way for Megatel Homes to launch universal payment token - The MegPrime token will be marketed as a crypto asset. Consumers can use the tokens for everyday purchases and earn digital rewards.
First American: Home prices decline in December, but slightly increase year-over-year - The data shows home prices declined somewhat from November to December, but those numbers increased by one-half of 1 percent compared with December 2024.
Benutech rolls out software to digitize, streamline validation process - Benutech has unveiled ClientVerify.ai, a workflow software that digitizes documentation validation and compliance protocols to bring more speed and accuracy to real estate transactions.
Westcor promotes staffer to senior VP, east area manager - Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. elevated a staffer with more than two decades of title experience to the position of senior VP, east area manager.
Chaves Perlowitz Luftig hires new senior counsel - Chaves Perlowitz Luftig LLP hired a new senior counsel who has almost 20 years of experience in real estate law.
Redfin: Pending home sales at lowest level since April 2020 - Pending home sales decreased by 5.9 percent month-over-month in December, according to a report from Redfin.
WFG tool to help real estate agents simplify financial concepts for clients - WFG Key will help real estate agents respond to consumer queries about topics such as affordability, long-term value and monthly payments.
New Venture Escrow expands California presence - The new location will boast a staff of experienced escrow officers and a sales representative who have decades of combined experience working in the market.
Majority of Federal Reserve Districts report uptick in economic activity - Overall economic activity is up in a majority of Federal Reserve Districts, marking an improvement over the previous three reporting cycles, according to the new Beige Book report.
AmTrust Title hires senior VP, regional manager - AmTrust Title recently hired a senior vice president and regional manager. The person stepping into the role brings more than three decades of expertise in title insurance and real estate services to AmTrust Title.
Snapdocs teams up with MeridianLink to help lenders close home equity transactions - Using this integration, lenders can create Snapdocs closings — including hybrid, eNote, and fully digital closings leveraging remote online notarization (RON) —directly within MeridianLink Consumer.
ATTOM: Foreclosure filings up 14 percent from 2024 - Foreclosure filings in 2025 were 14 percent higher year-over-year, but are 25 percent lower than they were in 2019, according to ATTOM’s Year-End 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
Redfin president and CEO announces resignation - Redfin President and CEO Glenn Kelman said “I gave it my all” in a LinkedIn post where he announced his departure from the leadership position. The move comes about a half-year after Rocket Companies closed on a $1.75 billion all-stock acquisition of Redfin.
Titl will use $2.5 million from seed funding round to expand footprint - Proptech company Titl will use the money to expand its footprint beyond Florida for its digital, unified land registry that uses artificial intelligence and blockchain.
NFIB: Optimism rises, uncertainty drops to lowest level since June 2024 - Of the 10 Optimism Index components, two increased, three decreased, and five were unchanged. The overall index level increased by 0.5 points in December.
Chaves Perlowitz Luftig welcomes new partner - Chaves Perlowitz Luftig LLP’s new partner has counseled on commercial real estate transactions in New York for more than two decades.
Ubitquity rolls out Crypto Audit Scanner for underwriters - Ubitquity’s Crypto Audit Scanner Underwriter Edition will provide enterprise-grade tools for aggregating crypto exposure and monitor agent compliance.
Median monthly housing payments see biggest decline since October 2024 - Redfin said monthly housing payments are declining because mortgage rates are dropping. The daily average mortgage rate recently fell to 5.99 percent, its lowest level in nearly three years.
Allied Capital Title acquires Indiana-based title company - Allied Capital Title has acquired a title company with offices in Indiana in an ongoing effort to grow its presence in the Midwest.
First Liberty Title Co. acquires title firm serving Texas - First Liberty Title Co. made the move as part of an effort to increase its reach across southeast Texas.
First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said she believes improved affordability and inventory are signs that the housing market is slowly improving. - With existing-home sales expected to increase in December, First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi believes the housing market is “slowly thawing,” but noted activity is still well below pre-pandemic levels.
Stewart names new president of Informative Research - Stewart Information Services Corp. chose a new president of Informative Research (IR). This leader will direct IR’s growth strategy and product development in an effort to create a comprehensive, customer-focused real estate services platform.
: Rezervology unveils data migration software for title providers changing its TPS of record - Rezervology LLC unveiled a software suite that will help companies migrate its data from TPS platform to another.
Zillow predicts Hartford, Conn. will have hottest housing market in 2026 - Hartford, Conn is projected to edge out Buffalo, N.Y. as the city with the most competitive housing market this year, according to Zillow’s hottest markets forecast.
Compass completes its $1.6B merger with Anywhere Real Estate - Compass founder and CEO Robert Reffkin will be the chairman and CEO of the newly formed Compass International Holdings. The combined company is expected to have an enterprise value of approximately $10 billion.
What NAR practices did the Sitzer-Burnett settlement change? - A ban on compensation offers on multiple listing services and the requirement of written buyer agreements are two of several policy changes that occurred following the Sitzer-Burnett settlement. October Research provided a summary of those changes according to information provided by the National Association of Realtors.
NFIB: Percentage of small-business owners with unfilled jobs unchanged in December - While the percentage of small-business owners who reported jobs openings they could not fill stayed the same from November to December, unfilled jobs remain above the historical average.
Ardán Inc. hires former employee as VP of enterprise technology - Ardan Inc. announces vice president hire. The ex-staffer is returning to Ardán Inc. to oversee the firm’s enterprise technology function with responsibility for software engineering and product architecture.
ATTOM: Home affordability remains a challenge, but there is a silver lining - ATTOM’s newest U.S. Home Affordability Report shows that in the fourth quarter of 2025, homes were less affordable than historical averages in nearly every county with sufficient data to analyze.
Redfin: Median house payments fall to lowest level in two years - The median monthly housing payment in early January dropped by 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Redfin.
Acquisition allows Stewart to expand the services they offer - The leaders of both Stewart Information Services Corp. and Mortgage Contracting Services spoke with The Title Report about Stewart’s acquisition of the mortgage services business line.
Kriss Law/Atlantic Closing and Escrow merges with settlement services law firm - Kriss Law/Atlantic Closing and Escrow has merged with a real estate settlement services law firm serving the greater New England region.
Ubitquity unveils tools to improve closing workflows - Ubitquity’s CipherBPA v2.0 and CipherBPA+AI are designed to integrate with the tools title agencies already use to improve closing workflows.
Blend Labs hires new head of revenue - Blend Labs Inc. has a new employee who will lead the company’s sales organization and revenue strategy, overseeing efforts to expand the company's presence across financial institutions.
Axos Bank joins Qualia’s Bank Partner Network - Axos Bank is planning to integrate its title and escrow banking services with Qualia’s digital real estate closing platform, which will help title and escrow companies reduce manual processes and mitigate fraud risk.
Redfin: Investors buying 40 percent of land for sale following California wildfires - Real estate investors are purchasing anywhere from 40 to 44 percent of vacant lots for sale in three different Los Angeles area zip codes following the California wildfires in January 2025.
National Integrity Title Agency receives Outstanding Corporation of the Year award - NITA was nominated by Samaritan, a long-standing community partner whose mission and impact have been championed by the company’s leadership and team.
First American named to Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Parents list - The selection honors organizations that provide exceptional support, flexibility, and growth opportunities for employees balancing work and family life.
CATIC Foundation funds memorial scholarship fund at St. John’s University School of Law - The endowed scholarship honors the life and legacy of Kay Parker Jex ’74, a distinguished alumna of St. John’s University School of Law and a respected professional in the field of real estate law.
WFG, Gold Capital Partners launch title joint venture - The joint venture delivers a full suite of title and escrow services, leveraging WFG’s technology and customer-centric service model.
Stewart Title acquires southwest Florida-based title agency - Stewart Title’s division president said the acquired agency’s team will remain.
Finance executive to address key housing issues in Q1 economic outlook - We caught up with Jeff Lanier, head of finance and senior vice president of strategic accounts at Stewart, as he prepares to share his Q1 Economic Forecast with the October Research audience.
True Title selects an associate general counsel - True Title has selected an associate general counsel. The firm’s latest hire has decades of experience in real estate law, including work in title underwriting, collections and homebuilding.
Sun Title promotes staffer to director of operations - Sun Title recently announced it has a new director of operations. This individual has worked in title and escrow for the past 12 years.
Redfin: Western New York has most competitive housing market in country - The houses in Irondequoit, N.Y., .a suburb of Rochester— are the fastest sellers in the country, according to Redfin. Number two on the list is Sunnyvale, Calif.
Survey: Home builder confidence rises slightly at year’s end - Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose one point in December, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Real estate platform raises $2.5M in seed funding round - The head of the tech-first, direct-to-consumer real estate platform said the new funding will help the company scale its title services and move faster with product development.
Homa announces first end-to-end AI-powered home purchases - The end-to-end platform provides a suite of tools for homebuyers, including property search, negotiation tools, automated contract generation and the ability to schedule home tours.
Clear Title Agency of Arizona hires VP of operational growth - The company chose a professional with more than three decades of title and escrow to serve in a new position.
Ardán Inc. hires chief innovation officer - Ardán is welcoming back the employee who has spent more than 20 years working in title insurance, real estate technology and enterprise transformation.
Gap between number of homesellers and buyers widens - The gap between the amount of homesellers and buyers more than doubled year-over-year, according to a report from Redfin.
Fitch Ratings forecasts increased title revenues in 2026 - Fitch Ratings’ sector outlook also anticipates modestly higher commercial and residential origination volumes in the new year.
The Realty Alliance head details new approach to business post-Sitzer - October Research spoke with the leader of a real estate brokerage advocacy group to learn how the Sitzer-Burnett v. NAR settlement impacted the way real estate brokerages conduct business.
Study finds rise in fraud claims tied to refi transactions - A study released by a global consulting and actuarial firm found that for refinance transactions, the average cost for fraud and forgery claims is nearly seven times higher than all other claim types.
Westcor promotes staffer to Midwest regional manager - Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. recently announced a promotion within the organization. The employee has worked in the title insurance business for more than three decades.
Dono launches AI-powered report generation system - Firms can upload data packages to Dono’s platform, where artificial intelligence unbundles documents, secures relevant information, and produces customized reports.
Redfin: Home sale listings see largest month-over-month drop since June 2023 - Active listings of homes for sale declined by 1.4 percent month-over-month in November, according to Redfin.
Diversified National Title rebrands as Acrisure Title - The rebranded firm is setting up its operations under the Acrisure Real Estate Services platform and is expanding its footprint in Michigan.
Brokers still struggling with buyer agreements post-Sitzer - The Sitzer-Burnett v. NAR settlement has created numerous changes within the real estate industry. October Research reached out to two industry attorneys to ask how brokers are maneuvering buyer agreements post-settlement.
First American: Home prices dip in November, but rise slightly year-over-year - The data shows home prices declined somewhat from October to November, but those numbers increased by a little more than one-half of 1 percent compared with November 2024.
Optimal Blue promotes two veteran leaders to chief financial officer, chief revenue officer - These two administrators will focus on helping the company advance to its next stage of growth and client success.
FNF Agency Operations unveils on-demand education center - The FNF Academy will give title agents a chance to strengthen their expertise in title and escrow topics, emerging trends and best practices.
: Zillow: Housing market cools in November, expected to warm up in spring - New listings from sellers fell nearly 30 percent month-over-month — the largest monthly November decline since at least 2018, according to Zillow.
Title Financial Corp. acquires Montana-based title firm - Both companies are family-owned and leaders say they will team up to provide expanded resources, advanced technology, and continued local expertise to their clients.
What does the future compliance landscape hold? - Mayer Brown's Kris Kully and Mother Lode Holding Co. CEO Lisa Steele discuss the latest developments from federal agencies as it relates to emerging litigation risks and how technology and legislative priorities will reshape the industry.
Ubitquity launches crypto tool to aid title agencies in fight against vacant land fraud - Ubitiquity’s new product combines cryptocurrency source of funds verification with advanced seller identity defense to give title agencies and real estate attorneys protection against vacant land fraud.
Liberty Title hires new account executive - The newest member of the Liberty Title team has worked in customer service, commercial insurance, consulting and entrepreneurship.
LenderLogix adds eSignature component to its point-of-sale platform - The firm has added LiteSpeed eSign to its LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform, which will allow lenders and borrowers to sign and manage loan documents.
Redfin: Pending home sales see largest drop in almost a year - Pending sales declined in all but six of the 50 most populous metro areas, according to a Redfin report.
UWM Holdings acquires Two Harbors Investment Corp. for $1.3B - The all-stock transaction will help UWM expand its servicing expertise and scale, as well as grow its mortgage servicing rights portfolio to a value of about $400 billion.
How do new NAR rules impact settlement service operations? - The Title Report spoke with title agents, an attorney and a real estate broker about how their transaction procedures have changed in light of the Sitzer-Burnett v. NAR settlement.
American Eagle Title acquires 17th title plant in Oklahoma - American Eagle Title Insurance Co. President Kristi French said its latest acquisition of an Oklahoma title plant reflects company leaders’ belief that owning title plant infrastructure is “essential to strong underwriting.”
FirstClose hires new vice president of sales - The firm’s new executive will oversee national sales initiatives, as well as mentor and develop a growing team of sales professionals.
Settlor unveils integration with DataTrace - The new integration enables Settlor users to perform automated title searches based on specific property information and retrieve associated documents within the title production system.
Zillow: Majority of home buyers skip rate shopping, potentially costing them money - Almost seven in 10 mortgage shoppers submit just one application and may miss an opportunity to save themselves thousands of dollars over the life of a loan, according to Zillow’s analysis.
When costs shift gradually: What tariffs and regulatory change have in common - For those in the industry who lived through RESPA Reform and TRID, the challenges of the current marketplace probably feel familiar, says October Research Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster.
AM Best affirms financial strength, credit ratings for Investors Title companies - The firms received a financial strength rating of A (excellent) and a long-term issuer credit rating of a (excellent).
NFIB: Small-business owners’ optimism rises, but so does uncertainty - Of the 10 Optimism Index components, six increased, three decreased, and one was unchanged.
PropLogix hires ex-creative director to serve as VP of marketing - The returning staffer has more than a decade of digital marketing and creative leadership experience.
First American integrates compliance tool into MeridianLink Mortgage LOS - The integration of RegsData will help ensure loans meet regulatory and investor requirements before closing.
Redfin: New home sale listings post largest drop in two years - New listings of homes for sale fell 1.7 percent year-over-year during the four weeks ending Dec. 7.
Attorney opinion letter provider files for Chapter 15 bankruptcy - Voxtur Analytics Corp. obtained an initial order from the court that approved a $2.35 million interim financing loan facility and appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. as a monitor.
AI-based tools can carry financial benefits for title firms - The leaders of four different companies spoke with The Title Report about the ways that title firms can benefit monetarily from using their tools.
Razi launches new product for title agencies’ office TVs - RaziTV is a product that turns everyday calendar and meeting information into a professional display for office televisions at title agencies.
Legal 1031 Exchange Services hires new counsel - The employee will be assisting clients and their advisors with forward and reverse IRC §1031 tax-deferred exchanges.
FirstClose partners with Stewart to improve order management system - The partnership will allow FirstClose to enhance its order management system with an increased amount of home equity fulfillment capabilities.
ATTOM: Foreclosures increase year-over-year for ninth straight month - ATTOM’s November Foreclosure Market Report showed the number of foreclosures in the country rose year-over-year but dipped from October.
Indiana title company purchased by Meridian Title - Leaders of the acquired company said they decided Meridian Title was the best partner aligned with its mission, culture and future goals.
|
Print Page
