by Tory Barringer
of DSNews.com
The period’s underwriting combined ratio reached 90.7 percent, a level not seen since 2006.
“The title insurance industry is benefitting from an improving housing market that is showing less home inventory and increasing home prices nationally,” Fitch says in its report.
While mortgage originations are expected to fall off somewhat in 2013, Fitch notes that the drop will mostly be driven by a decline in refinance activity, which will be offset by growing purchase originations. As the agency points out, “purchase orders typically bring in twice the revenue of refinance orders for title insurers.”
Additionally, open order counts for title underwriters were 20 percent higher at third-quarter 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. According to Fitch, the order flow should provide a “strong pipeline of activity for the first half of 2013 and a cushion against a potentially weaker second half in an uncertain economic environment.” As a result, revenue is expected to grow in 2013, though at a more modest rate than in 2012.
While capital strength varies from company to company, Fitch says it continues to view the industry as “adequately capitalized.”
The biggest threat to the industry at this point, Fitch says, is Washington’s potential failure in avoiding the fiscal cliff. If that were to occur, economic growth would fall off drastically, leading to sustained mortgage and real estate market activity declines and a “return to sizeable title insurer operating losses and capital deterioration.”
On the other hand, if the cliff can be avoided and the housing market is allowed to grow further, Fitch anticipates an improvement in industry capitalization to historical levels.
Posted via email from Title Insurance PROVO, Utah (PRWEB) November 27, 2012 Simplifile, the largest and leading provider of electronic recording (e-recording) services, today announced that Simplifile has entered into a partnership agreement with Erxchange, a leading electronic recording solution, to extend the Simplifile e-recording network into 31 new counties previously only available through Erxchange. The newly formed partnership also enables Erxchange customers to submit documents into the Simplifile e-recording network of more than 790 recording jurisdictions nationwide. Three new counties are currently accessible through the Simplifile network – Cook County, Ill., Hidalgo County, Texas, and Bell County, Texas – and the remaining 28 counties will become available in the coming weeks and months. Thousands of existing Simplifile e-recording customers, including title companies, banks, attorneys, lien filers, and other organizations, can immediately take advantage of the partnership. Erxchange customers that submit documents through Simplifile will now have access to Simplifile’s 24/7 technical support, an assigned account representative, free training courses and API support for system integration – and benefit from Simplifile’s unmatched document type support. “Our partnership with Erxchange will ensure that all of our mutual customers will have access to the best resources to electronically record documents across the county,” said Paul Clifford, President of Simplifile. “As more submitters can e-record nationally through various jurisdictions, Simplifile’s and Erxchange’s mutual goal of widespread e-recording adoption will be met,” said Jason Miley, business manager at Erxchange. “This partnership enables both companies to provide its customers with unparalleled opportunities for e-recording.” About Simplifile Simplifile is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing e-recording service. Simplifile supports thousands of e-recording customers that include title companies, banks, attorneys, lien filers, and other organizations that create and submit documents to more than 790 local, state, and federal government jurisdictions. Simplifile’s electronic document services save time and the expense associated with traditional document submission methods. Simplifile is focused on building the industry’s largest and easiest-to-use network. As such, Simplifile provides a streamlined and scalable approach to electronic recording for organizations of all shapes and sizes. More information about Simplifile may be found at simplifile.com or by calling 800-460-5657. About Erxchange Erxchange is a leading electronic recording solution that has been serving the mortgage industry for a decade. Hundreds of title companies, mortgage banks, mortgage brokers, fee attorneys and other submitting organizations use Erxchange to reduce costs and improve service levels. More information on Erxchange can be found at http://www.erxchange.com. “Simplifile” is a registered service mark of Simplifile, LC. Posted via email from Title Insurance A debate is raging among real estate professionals over the role of third-party firms that vet the reliability of settlement service companies working for lenders. Seizing on the already jittery lending community, a number of start-up firms created something called third-party vetting companies. The mission of these for-profit firms is to fill the supervisory gap between lenders and the firms they hire to oversee real estate closings for consumers. For a fee, these “vetters” purport to conduct a due diligence investigation into the settlement service providers’ practices and procedures and generate a low-, medium- or high-risk index score that they then make available to lenders and others in the mortgage-lending industry. These lenders then can withhold business from settlement agents receiving a high-risk score. The vetting companies’ goal is to monitor in an ongoing and uniform manner that settlement service providers comply with all applicable laws and rules and follow the industries’ best practices. In return for that fee, settlement service providers, such as settlement agents, are “promised” preferential access to lenders’ settlement business. On its face, this business model may seem beneficial in offering more oversight protection for consumers, but there are serious flaws with this unregulated practice. Promising to deliver settlement business in exchange for paying a fee is illegal under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. These anti-kickback provisions were enacted to protect consumers from picking up the tab for such referral fees, which are passed along as higher settlement costs. But Andrew Liput, president and chief executive of Secure Settlements, a third-party vetter, says his firm offers a valuable service and does not violate the provision. “Since we are providing vetting services to settlement agents with no guarantee of referral business or even a guarantee of a ‘low-risk’ index score, we are not accepting payments in exchange for referrals,” he said. But settlement agents are already “vetted” by at least three levels of government oversight and private industry. In many states and the District, selling title insurance requires a license from the insurance commission. To obtain a license, the settlement agent must complete a detailed application, provide financial and personal data and post a fidelity bond. Before a surety company will issue that bond, it conducts a detailed background check, runs a credit report and analyzes the applicant’s business and personal creditworthiness. Most important, before a settlement agent can become an agent for a title underwriter, he must satisfy that title underwriter’s rigorous screening, education and training protocols. Underwriters audit their agent’s accounts at least annually. These audits are then used to identify and address any deficiencies in the settlement agent’s practices and procedures. “The more that consumers know about the protections that already exist in the title industry, the better,” said Michelle Korsmo, president of the American Land Title Association (ALTA), the title industry’s trade association. Posted via email from Title Insurance
Continuing Ed for Title Agents
Simplifile and Erxchange Partner to Expand E-Recording Nationwide
Continuing Ed for Title Agents
Title agents are wary of third-party vetting firms
Continuing Ed for Title Agents
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