Trtle News •Volume 81, Number 1 Center Spread Cover Story 2002 ALTA Directory ofTechnology Products & Services Once again, this annual directory is chock full of information on technology vendors and which ones offer the products you are looking for. Pull out the poster-sized directory and keep it for reference throughout the year. The 2002 directory lists 26 vendors featuring 66 products. You can also meet many of these ven­ dors in person at the ALTA Tech Forum, February 17-19 in New Orleans. 12 26 Technology Comer Inside the Industry XML to Digital Signatures­ ALTA's New Expanded Where Are We Going? Coverage Policies by Andy Hand by Clifford L. Morgan Several not-so-new technologies have Both policies provide new and excit­ the promise of changing the way we ing coverages. Learn what is covered do business. This article examines by these new policies and why they two that are receiving a lot of atten­ are just what the doctor ordered for tion from the title industry. our industry. 16 30 Running Your Business Inside ALTA CJ"; h TA News How to Tum Your Sales Team Abstracter & Title Agent Survey ~ Into a Profit Center Focuses on Technology ~ h TA Events Calender by Darryl Turner by Mark A. Bilbrey and Do your sales people spend more time Richard W. McCarthy C) 6 servicing existing clients than they do The 2001 Survey has special emphasis C:: Government &Agency News prospecting for new business? Maybe on the title business and technology. 34 your commission structure is to blame. See how your title company compares ~ ~ MERS Discover why? on the use of personal computers, the Internet, title plants, automated clos­ ~ 36 20 ing systems, and electronic access to Member News Issues Focus public records. Succeeding New cO 38 World of Joint Ventures ~ Marketplace by Timothy L. Amos C) 40 Discover a banker's perspective on ~ Membership Directory Errata Sheet bank affiliations with title insurance 44 agencies and how they present an 2001 Title News Index opportunity to develop a new market­ ing and delivery channel for title insurance business. www.alta.org Title News 1 A Message from the Title Insurance Underwriters Section Chair Ai'I E RI CAN LA"NiJTITL B Promoting Our Industry -Ai$oC1..\TION here was a column recently in USA Today about the ongoing boom in refinancing Members Call Toll Free: 800-787-ALTA mortgages. A lender in the article was discussing the reason for delays-and guess Members Fax Tol l Free: 888-FAX·ALTA T Visit ALTA Home Page: www.alta.org who he blamed? Us. E-Mail Feedback to: [email protected] He said that customers have faced bottlenecks with title companies who are Title stretched to the limits. This is consistent with the constant efforts by virtually everyone NEWS to reduce closing costs by first focusing on our charges, usually among the smallest at Publisher: James R. Maher Ed~or : Lorri Lee Ragan, AP R closing . Why is it always us? Layout/Production Manager: Christina Rizzoni @2001 American Land Title Association While I don't believe that all of the delays in the system fall at our feet, there are Title News is publ ished bi-monthly by the American Land Title some issues for us out there which could explain this attitude in some cases or may Association, 1828 L Street, N. W. 1 Su ite 705 1 Washington, DC 20036. U.S. and Canadi an subscription rates are $3 0 a year (member rate); $48 a year (nonmember rate). create such a problem in other cases. For subsc ription information, call 1·800·787-ALTA. Send address changes to: Title News1 ci rculation ma nagei; at the above stated Consolidation Issues address. Our industry has, like others, gone through a lot of consolidation. All on the belief that Anyone is invited to contribute articles, reports and photographs concerning issues of the title industry. The Association, however, reserves the rig ht to edit all material submitted. Editorials and bigger is better, economics of scale, and all of those kinds of reasons. articles are not stateme nts of Association policy, and do not nec­ essarily reflect the opin ions of the ed itor or the Association. I suggest there is another side of the equation . More consolidation equals less Reprints: Apply to the editor for permission to reprint any part of diversity, which may in fact result in less ability to flexibly meet a the magazine. Articles reprinted with permiss ion must carry the 11 following credit line: Reprinted from Title News, the b i~mon t h l y quickly changing market's needs. magaz ine of the American Land Title Association." This may in fact be what the USA Today writer was referring to ASSOCIATION OFnCERS President in blaming bottlenecks on us. With fewer agents to respond to the Frank P. Willey, Fidelity National Financiaf1 Inc., Santa Barbara, CA President-Elect need , maybe our consol idated industry has contributed to those Stanley B. Friedlander, Continental Title Agency Corp., Cleveland, OH bottlenecks. Treasurer Mark Winter, Stewart Title Guaranty Co., Washington, O.C. Chair, Finance Committee Mushroom Attitude Michael F. Wille, The Title Company, Inc.1 La Crosse, WI Chair, Title Insurance Underwriters Section As an industry, we have done a poor job for many years in Charles J. Kovaleski, Attorneys'Title Insurance Fund1 Orlando, FL Board Representatives, Title Insurance Underwriters Section presenting our case (our value proposition in current consultant­ Gary L. Kermott, First American Title lnsurance Co., Santa Ana, CA speak) to our various audiences-the public, the lenders, business referrers or Rande K. Yeager, Old Republic National Title Co., Minneapolis, MN Chair, Abstracters and Title Insu rance Agents Section regulators. The only time we talk about claims is when someone questions why our Mark A. Bilbrey, Warranty Title and Abstract, Inc. 1 El Reno, OK Board Representatives, Abstracters and Title Insurance Agents Section claims rate is so low. Gregory M. Kosin, Greater Illinois Title Co., Chicago, IL We should be proud of our ability to pay claims and we need to actively, not only Kenneth Lingenfelter, President & CEO, Metropolitan Title Company, Howell, Ml reactively, tell our claims story and the story of the work we do to keep our insureds Immediate Past President Cara L. Detring, Preferred Land Title Co.1 Farmington, MO claims-free . ASSOCIATION STAFF This sad state of affairs applies to all of us, whether as a trade association , as an Executive Vice President .... ........................ James R. Maher Director of Research .... .......... Richard W. McCarthy underwriter, or as an agent. None of us has done a good job in telling our story before Director of Education ....... ......... Patricia L. Berman we have to because someone is asking questions. Can we "afford" to promote our Legislative/Regulatory Counsel ......... Ann vom Eigen industry? I would flip it and ask can we afford not to? Director of Information Systems and Technology ... .......... Kelly Throckmorton, CAE All of our former customers and referrers now are partners in our business and are all Director of Meetings and Conferences .............................. Liza Trey blowing their own horns to their various audiences. I'd suggest to all of us that if we are Director of Communications .. ................... ....... Lorri Lee Ragan, APR Director of Marketing and Membership ...................... Alice Baldwin seen simply as a derivative service with no independently established case-value Director of Finance & Administration ....... Mark E. Hernick proposition- we may deserve being characterized as the bottleneck or the excessive Grassroots Manager ...... .............. Robert C. Blume! costs that we know we are not. Charles J. Kovaleski 2 January/February 2002 www.alta.org ALTA Sues Radian ALTA has filed a lawsuit in Orange County, California, on behalf of its California members against Radian Group, Inc. and two of its subsidiaries, Radian Guaranty, Inc. and ExpressClose.com. In the suit, ALTA is seeking an injunction prohibiting Radian from offering and selling in California a mortgage impairment product ~ ~ ... known as "Radian Lien Protection" (RLP). fAllnmltllle Rnance &Planing Mealiil Qmmlltee - In addition, ALTA is seeking monetary damages on KeyWest, R. WashilgDI, D.C. behalf of a class of all licensed title insurers and title 13-15 insurance agents in California. Further, the suit seeks a Large_......, llpl1Rler court order prohibiting Radian from selling any other R.Myers,R. 22-24 forms of mortgage impairment products that constitute Relnsu111'1C8 Committee Bmer Creek, co title insurance without approval from the California ,....., 13 Insurance Commissioner. The suit alleges that Radian's Internal Aldlors MeelBJ ........ unlawful sales of its RLP product interfered with the title Atlanta, GA 18-11 industry business relationships with mortgage lender ALTA Annual C4Jwanllon 15 The Breakers Holel customers, resulting in substantial lost revenues and rw: Boani Meeting Palm Beach, FL irreparable harm to those relationships and the title New Orlen, LA industry and its product. 15-18 llllllllllar Finally, the complaint alleges Radian has falsely 4-6 ALTA Board Meeting Tiiie Counsel Fall Meeting advertised its product and seeks to require Radian to New Orleans, LA New Orleans, LA replace its product and the earlier ExpressClose.com 17-19 product with title insurance policies. AlJA Tecllnolo!FJ Forum 2002 Affiliated ALTA's executive vice president, James R. Maher, said, New Orleans, LA Association "To the best of our knowledge, the Radian product and 18-19 Conventions similar mortgage impairment products that are currently Forms Committee Meeting Fllnlly being sold (unlawfully in our opinion), are title insurance New Orleans, LA 14-16 Alaska in that they insure against undisclosed liens. But none of these products measure up to traditional title insurance. :': Apll They don't clear up title defects. They don't guarantee a Title Counsel Spring Meeting 7-9 Galifomia right of access.