WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The American Land Title Association (ALTA) announced that veteran land title insurance industry professional Anne L. Anastasi has been named president for the 2010-2011 year.

“Anne is as passionate and articulate a spokesperson for the title industry as you could ever hope to find, but she also has other qualities such as the ability to listen and great judgment, that will distinguish her leadership”

Anastasi is president of Hatboro, Pa.-based Genesis Abstract, LLC. Prior to opening her own company in 1994, she served as vice president of a regional land title insurance underwriter. In 1999, Anastasi served as the first female president in the 80-year history of the Pennsylvania Land Title Association.

“I am honored to serve ALTA as its president, especially at this time,” Anastasi said. “The importance of title insurance in assuring property rights has been amplified with the recent foreclosure issues stemming from lending processing errors. This has afforded us a great teaching opportunity to explain the repairing and closing process so that people purchasing a home or those refinancing their mortgages will understand that title insurance is not just a product but a valuable process that protects their investment.”

Anastasi is a renowned national speaker, covering topics such as title insurance, customer service, sales and motivation. She has been the keynote speaker at 46 title industry state conventions and has addressed audiences for ALTA, Real Estate Services Providers Council (RESPRO), bar associations and mortgage bankers.

“Anne is as passionate and articulate a spokesperson for the title industry as you could ever hope to find, but she also has other qualities such as the ability to listen and great judgment, that will distinguish her leadership,” said Kurt Pfotenhauer, chief executive officer of ALTA. “Given the challenges facing the title industry, we are blessed to have a leader of such quality.”

Posted via email from Title Insurance
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Title Insurance No Longer an Issue in Foreclosure-Gate – Daniel Indiviglio – Business – The Atlantic####

October 30, 2010 admin

Although the mortgage market mess persists, one aspect of the fiasco appears to have worked itself out. Several major title insurance companies were demanding that mortgage servicers take on liability for title problems, but dropped that request on Thursday. This matters a lot, because it could mean that purchasers of foreclosed homes won’t shy away from buying due to the fear of not getting title insurance.

Elizabeth Razzi of the Washington Post reports that three big title insurers, First American Financial, Old Republic International and Stewart Information Services, are no longer demanding indemnifications from banks and servicers on foreclosed properties. Those three firms make up more than half of the title insurance market.

Calculated Risk explains why this is so important:

This is means that the buyers of REO (lender Real Estate Owned) will be able to obtain title insurance, and that the new owner can sell the property. There was some concern that buyers would shy away from REOs.

So the demand problem is partially solved. Although some buyers might still worry about purchasing a foreclosed home, it won’t be due to a lack of title insurance. Instead, they may fear title insurers’ ability to back up a flood of claims if many titles are bad. Since that’s likely less of a concern, however, this new development should prevent a plummet in foreclosed property sales.

But it doesn’t fix the supply problem. Some banks and servicers are still investigating their documentation and procedures and halting some foreclosures temporarily. This will reduce the number of defaulted properties that hit the market, which will further delay the sector’s recovery. Housing cannot move confidently forward until all properties from bad mortgages have been absorbed by the market.

via theatlantic.com

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Where Is The Housing Recovery? – Intelligent Investing – Ideas from Forbes Investor Team – Forbes

October 20, 2010 admin

Posted by John Mauldin

We are going to quickly review a few charts from Gary Shilling’s latest letter, where he reviewed the housing market in depth. Bottom line, the housing market has not yet begun to recover and it is not only going to take longer but the decline in prices may be greater than many have forecast. I wrote three years ago that it could be well into 2011 before we get to a “bottom.” That may have been optimistic, given what we will cover in this letter.