March 24, 2014 Volume 15, No.10. of the. title agent NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY

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1 VOICE of the title agent March 24, 2014 Volume 15, No.10 Sponsored by: NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY Produced by:

2 About Us The Title Report is a production of October Research, LLC specializing in business news and analysis for the settlement services industry and is published 24 times a year. Contact information: 3046 Brecksville Road, Suite D Tel: (330) Fax: (330) contactus@octoberresearch.com Dear Readers, Change is inevitable, but nothing has shifted with more rapidity Erica Meyer EDITORIAL & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Patrick M. Murphy, Esq. EDITORS Adam Redling Andrea Golby Nathan Marinchick Tara Quinn SEMINARS AND WEBINARS DIRECTOR Kelly McCarel Daniel Kearsey Copyright October Research, LLC All Rights Reserved. MARKETING Ryan Spellman SALES & ADVERTISING & SALES MANAGER Emily Murray SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dave Broaddus CIRCULATION/ CUSTOMER SERVICE Michelle Guyot Ted Davison BUSINESS OFFICES Sam Warwar, Esq. ACCOUNTING Any copying or republication without the express written or verbal consent of the publisher is a violation of federal copyright laws and the publisher will enforce information proving a federal copyright violation with regard to this publication. To obtain permission to redistribute material, obtain reprints or to report a violation of federal copyright laws, please call , or customerservice@octoberresearch.com. NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY Emilio Fernandez VOLUME 15, NUMBER 10 TO SUBSCRIBE, PLEASE GO TO

3 Welcome to the Voice of the Title Agent 2014 larger developers and showed them how we provide Did your business improve from ? Yes - A lot No - Stayed the same Did your business improve from ? Yes - A lot No - Stayed the same Yes - A little No - It got worse Yes - A little No - It got worse 15.5% 5.5% 5.2% 27.8% 41.7% 17.4% 46.6% 39.2% 3

4 Do You Ever Feel Like Your Underwriter Is Blocking Out The Sun? At NATIC, we are committed to the support and growth of the quality independent title agency. While legacy underwriters across the country leave you in the shade, we have a different strategy: Give our agents our full support for growth. We continuously strive to exceed our agents expectations. NATIC knows what it takes to fully support a title business in today s economic environment. That s why in the past 12 months, we increased our independent agent premiums by over 200%. Our business model is simple. Agent growth. NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY GEOFFREY B. GINN, ESQ. Senior Vice President, Independent Agency Division Mallard Creek Road Suite 505 Charlotte, NC t: e: gginn@natic.com As a true business partner we provide our agents with: A one-hour underwriter response guarantee Personalized service and transparency between your business and our experienced team of professionals All the resources of one of the best risk-managed title insurers in the nation Exceptional financial ratings: NATIC is rated A (Unsurpassed) by Demotech, Inc. and B++ (Good) by A.M. Best We define our success by our agents success. NATIC provides the tools and resources to encourage our agents success in their respective local markets and assists with meeting their customer needs in unknown remote markets. If you are ready for an underwriter relationship that nurtures agent growth, contact North American Title Insurance Company today North American Title Group and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. North American Title Group and its subsidiaries are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. NATIC R

5 Many title agents expecting growth in 2014 How do you feel about business in 2014? How do you feel about business in 2013? Anticipating substantial growth Anticipating substantial growth Expecting some growth over 2013 Worse - Orders will be down in our market Expecting some growth over 2013 Worse - Orders will be down in our market 11.8% 11.2% 10.9% 4.2% 21.7% 27.1% 49.8% 53.3% 5

6 Sales and marketing still seen as best opportunity to grow and marketing plan is the most important asset as they said they plan to do more networking, get more involved Do you market to consumers? What do you see as your best opportunity in the next 12 months? Yes Not yet, but soon Merger or acquisition Cost reduction No Geographic expansion New business niche New technology 11.7% 62% 10.4% 19% 19.3% Exiting the business Renewed sales/marketing approach Other 47.2% 31.6% 41% 9.2% 24.4% 27.5% 6

7 Compliance and regulation causes concern On a scale of 1-10, rate your current level of comfort with all the mortgage disclosure forms fourth parties for vendor management issues and that we 10.8% 7.9% 10.5% 10.2% 37.1% 7.0% 8.6% 5.1% 1.3% 1.6%

8 Agents relationship with underwriters remained mostly unchanged few that did said they separated from an underwriter listed underwriters as well as smaller, independent What type of underwriter do you prefer to work with? Big and national Small and regional relationship in any state we want to pursue, but also gives 0.9% 36.6% Something in the middle All of the above None of the above 37.8% 16..9% 7.8% 8

9 Have you seen your lender contracts or instructions change in the last year? Yes No Not yet - preparing for them to Did you see your side of the agency split change in the last year? Yes - it went up No - it went down No 30.9% 6.9% 4.4% 49.7% 19.4% 88.7% How often are you pressured by customers to insure over certain items you normally would not? If affiliated, with what type of companies? Very often Rarely Real estate agent Mortgage lender Sometimes Never Real estate broker Mortgage broker Other 16.1% 9% 34.4% 19.4% 32.2% 11.8% 31.2% 42.7% 23.7% 19.4% 9

10 Whether it s remarkable growth, financial strength or superior underwriting support, our agents find the sky s the limit when partnering with North American Title Insurance Company. To find out more about North American Title Insurance Company please call or visit our website today! NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY YOUR DREAM. OUR MISSION. NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY Mallard Creek Road Suite 505 Charlotte, NC t: f: INDEPENDENT AGENCY DIVISION GEOFFREY B. GINN, ESQ. Senior Vice President, Independent Agency Division t: e: gginn@natic.com North American Title Group and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. North American Title Group and its subsidiaries are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. NATIC R

11 Affiliated business arrangements still a hot topic form most said yes they should, but many said they If independent, have you considered exploring any affiliated relationships going forward? Yes No Depends on how the industry evolves the next few years 32.2% 45.3% 22.5% Technology is a necessity for today s title agent 11

12 Rate your attitude about these title technology attributes/solutions. E-recording capabilities Don t have it Don t need it Would like to have this Neutral Can t live without it 37.0% (119) Rating Average Rating Count Escrow account security technology 54.2% (174) My title production system 55.7% (177) Cloud hosting 39.2% (124) Integration with providers/customers 36.1% (113) 32.3% (102) Lien release/document retrieval 40.7% (127) e-marketing solutions 45.4% (142) Paperless storage 55.1% (174) Agents seeing changes in their E&O policies 12

13 Is enough being done in the industry to ensure escrow security and prevent fraud? Is enough being done in the industry to ensure escrow security and prevent fraud? 2013 Yes Unsure Yes Unsure No No 27.2% 32.1% 49.7% 46.2% 26.2% 18.2% Vetting and Security: Data security and compliance They are not making it mandatory, but they are giving us Small regional banks are being singled out 13

14 they were unsure if enough was being done to ensure Have you experienced any new form of agent vetting in the last year? Yes - directly from a lender Yes - from a third-party service 47.9% 13% 26% 13% Yes - from our underwriter No On a scale of 1-10, how nervous are you about the talk of agent vetting, and lenders paying their third-party service providers? 3.2% 12.3% 5.7% 8.5% 41.5% 8.2% 8.2% 4.4% 2.5% 5.4%

15 2014 NATIONAL SETTLEMENT SERVICES SUMMIT (NS3) June 9-11, 2014 New Orleans Marriott New Orleans, Louisiana Join us in New Orleans and be on hand as expert speakers and noted industry veterans educate attendees on proven business models, innovative methodologies, market developments and compliance issues facing today s regulatory environment. Connect with 700 of your industry peers at multiple networking events the Summit provides and plan on walking away with new business relationships, ideas on how to strengthen and grow your business, insight into the latest legislative and regulatory developments, compliance instruction and CE/CLE credits (pending state approval). Chart Your Course to New Orleans to see what the buzz is all about! AGENDA Monday, June 9 th Tuesday, June 10 th Wednesday, June 11 th HURRY! EARLY BIRD RATE EXPIRES MARCH 31 Visit for more information

16 ALTA Best Practices: Implementation Have you implemented the American Land Title Association Best Practices? Do you think the ALTA Best Practices go far enough? Yes - all of them Yes Not far enough Some of them No Unsure No Too Far 4% 17.1% 48.9% 5% 14.6% 56.5% 47.1% 6.8% 16

17 Operations and Preferences How would you describe your title agency? Who do you think has the hardest job in the title business? Independent Direct Residential loan closers Title searchers Sales Auditing 15.4% Underwriting counsel 4.3% 6.5% 37.9% 33% 78.1% 10.6% 13.6% What concerns you the most in the next 12 months? Compliance issues Third-party vetting Not meeting remittance requirements The economy / mortgage market Operating costs Lack of customers E&O insurance costs % 38.7% 5.9% 63.8% 35.6% 29.7% 16.7% 25.1% 21.1% 20.1% 19.8% Data / escrow security Underwriter competition Lender competition Other %

18 3.7% How many offices does your title company operate? How many years has your company been in business? 12.1% 2.7% 9.1% 6.2% 48.7% 18.4% 45% 29.3% 24.8% Which types of deals does your company handle? Deeds-in-lieu Commercial 60 Foreclosure / REO New construction 40 Purchase Reverse mortgage 20 Short sales % 37.3% 53.1% 37.3% 71.4% 98.1% 96.6% 50% 71.1%

19 Conclusion Please rate your level of agreement/disagreement with the following statements: Agree Neutral Disagree Rating Count The title industry is in better shape than when I entered the business 41.3% (132) Once implemented, these mortgage disclosures could be an improvement 41.8% (133) Our industry needs to do a better job communicating with consumers 70.3% (222) Lenders hold too much power over us 68.8% (216) Fraud gets too much hype as a concern in the industry 42.5% (134) We need more regional underwriters 52.1% (162) 19

20 Do You Ever Feel Like You Are Out on the Prairie by Yourself? At NATIC, we are committed to the support and growth of the quality independent title agency. While legacy underwriters across the country leave you to fend for yourself, we have a different strategy: Grow our agents. We continuously strive to exceed our agents expectations. NATIC knows what it takes to fully support a title business in today s economic environment. That s why in the past 12 months, we increased our independent agent premiums by over 200%. Our business model is simple. Agent growth. As a true business partner we provide our agents with: A one-hour underwriter response guarantee Personalized service and transparency between your business and our experienced team of professionals All the resources of one of the best riskmanaged title insurers in the nation Exceptional financial ratings: NATIC is rated A (Unsurpassed) by Demotech, Inc. and B++ (Good) by A.M. Best We define our success by our agents success. NATIC provides the tools and resources to encourage our agents success in their respective local markets and assists with meeting their customers needs in unknown remote markets. If you are ready for an underwriter relationship that doesn t leave you to fend for yourself, contact North American Title Insurance Company today. NATIC NORTH AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY GEOFFREY B. GINN, ESQ. Senior Vice President, Independent Agency Division Mallard Creek Road Suite 505 Charlotte, NC t: e: gginn@natic.com North American Title Group and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. North American Title Group and its subsidiaries are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. NATIC R