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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.
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.
Fitch Ratings shares sector outlook for title insurance in 2026 - Commercial real estate transactions are still a key driver of title insurer revenue, according to Fitch, and commercial loan originations are expected to rise in the new year.
Hometap raises $50M to offer home equity product to homeowners - . The money will be used by the firm to accelerate the adoption of its products, including its core home equity investment product, which provides homeowners with cash in exchange for a percentage of their home’s future value.
PropLogix hires business development manager for Miami market - The firm hired a Florida International University graduate to fill the post.
ACES Quality Management unveils innovation to make customer data portable - ACES DATABRIDGE empowers financial institutions to extract, manage and report on their ACES data using their own tools and environments.
Redfin: Average buyer’s agent commission up slightly since enactment of new NAR rules - The average buyer’s agent commission for homes sold in the third quarter rose by about one-half of one percent year-over-year, more than a year after the enactment of new commission rules following the National Association of Realtors’ settlement in response to a class action lawsuit brought by home sellers.
Title executive forms group to support fellow female leaders - Williston Financial Group Vice President Jaime Johnson, director of WFG Agent 3.0, spoke with The Title Report about her goals for the Women at the (Closing) Table organization.
Splitero closes $283M home equity investment securitization - Many new investors entered the space, resulting in a 9.25x oversubscription of the entire transaction.
NFIB: Number of unfilled job spots rises for first time since June - The group's November jobs report found about one-third of small-business owners reported job slots they could not fill, 1 point higher than it was in October.
AgentHome hires new vice president of operations - The employee has more than 15 years of industry experience.
Elite Closing Solutions relaunches contract-to-close-service with transaction coordinator - ECS is working with Andrew Farnell, expert who has been involved in 139 transactions in less than two years.
Redfin: Investor home purchases up by 1 percent year-over-year - Investor home purchases totaled roughly 52,000 during the third quarter, according to Redfin.
Kriss Law/Atlantic Closing & Escrow merges with law firm - All members of the law firm will join the KL/ACE team, strengthening its market presence in Vermont.
Title firms must be proactive with cybersecurity insurance coverage - The Title Report asked several industry experts to share their perspective on this issue.
La Rosa Holdings reports year-over-year increase in revenue in Q3 - La Rosa Holdings Corp. reported its third-quarter revenue increased year-over-year by about $600,000.
BankUnited Inc. hires senior VP, national sales manager - The new executive has experience in sales, title solutions, mortgage lending processes and compliance standards.
National Private Lenders Association’s watchlist will help lenders spot high-risk counterparties - The NPLA Watchlist is a risk-intelligence program designed to help lenders, brokers, and service providers identify high-risk counterparties before funding.
Redfin: Starter-home sales increased by nearly 5 percent year-over-year in October - Mid-priced (up 0.7 percent) and high-priced (up 0.8 percent) home sales also rose from a year earlier.
Go slow and fix things: The friction between title and tech - October Research Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster discusses how the inherent difference in the goals between technology and title and settlement can create friction between the two.
Radian reports decline in net income, increase in book value per share in Q3 - The company also reported revenue increased from the second quarter to the third quarter but dropped year-over-year.
Federal Reserve Districts report minimal change in economic activity - Four districts reported a slight increase in growth, three reported little or no change, one reported mixed activity and four had a modest decline.
Westcor promotes staffer to senior vice president, central area manager - The staffer is a 20-year title insurance veteran to the position of senior vice president, central area manager.
MessageLeap rolls out text message routing agent - Answer Intelligence is a message routing agent that ensures incoming text messages are assigned to the correct closing file.
Zillow: Home shoppers see largest price cuts in years - . A new Zillow analysis showed that the typical listing received cumulative discounts totaling $25,000 in October.
Benutech rolls out lead alert feature - Daily Lead Alerts is part of Benutech's Title Toolbox platform that is designed to alert real estate agents to listing opportunities the moment they occur.
DataTrace launches AI-driven title insurance policy marketplace - StarterIQ launched with more than 40 million starters and will reach 70 million in the next six months.
CloseSimple expansion can help title firms with FinCEN requirements - The new tools offer task integration, operational efficiency and future-ready design to help meet new residential real estate reporting requirements.
Software tools that can give title production systems a boost - The Title Report spoke with the heads of software companies about the supplemental tools they are creating to improve title production systems.
First American appoints new member to board of directors - First American Financial Corp. appointed an executive leader with 40-plus years of experience in the insurance business to the firm’s board of directors.
Palmetto Land Title Association unveils redesigned website - The PLTA launched the new site as part of its mission to support South Carolina’s title insurance professionals and attorneys.
Redfin: Affordability challenges accelerating fastest in rural America - The annual income homebuyers need to earn to afford the median-priced home in rural counties has increased by 105.8 percent from before the pandemic.
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