Inspiration…

It comes from mysterious places, doesn’t it? I had just enjoyed a movie with my 9 months pregnant wife when I happened to notice a facebook message on my blackberry. My inspiration came from a simple reply to a status update in which a friend of mine was sad because her husband had gotten home from work after 10 PM. You see my friend’s husband just happens to be in management for a competing title company in the Chicago area, and yesterday was the famous Last Day for a Refi to Close and Fund. So, what was the reply that was the inspiration for this blog post? The reply read, “Gotta love the title business.”

Is this what the Title Business has become? Since when did we have to work 60 or 70 hours in a week to insure first lien? Shoot, is insuring first lien even what this is about anymore? I don’t want to be part of a business that forces us to work like dogs for our nightly bowl of kibble. The title business isn’t and shouldn’t be preformed in sweatshop like conditions. I’m ashamed that a small group of companies have changed the perceptions of an entire industry. I can’t tell you how many title company owners I have heard utter the phase that they are, “a family first company.” I guess that by “family first” they must mean their own. How can the ownership expect their staff to work from 7 am to 9 or 10 pm and still have a family life? Shame on you…

I remember the title business used to be about doing a good search of the public land records, providing an accurate commitment, closing and funding a transaction as per the lenders instructions and providing a clean title policy to the Lender and/or Owner. Now it seems as thought the business has changed into doing a quick search on the Internet, providing a clean commitment no matter what, waiving exceptions via credit reports or just because you don’t want to upset a client, preparing deeds and legal documents even thought it’s the unauthorized practice of law in Illinois and very much illegal, and finally closing whenever and wherever we can… Then maybe, once it’s all over with, you might get a policy a year or two later. Does this sound familiar to anybody? Shameful and sad.

I do love the title business, but I refuse to accept that this is what its become. Maybe I’m a dinosaur, maybe I’m out of touch, but maybe, just maybe I like going home to my family just as much as my customers do.

Reaction to ALTA’s Policy Licensing Initiative…

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) has been long accused to caring only about the interests of the Underwriters, or more appropriately, their Donors. ALTA is too slow to change, lacks the clout it deserves, and generally fails to inspire the rank and file in the title industry. For too long, ALTA has been nothing more than a Social Club for the CEOs and Vice Presidents of our Underwriters. I have to admit, that up until the last few years, I was in agreement with this line of thinking. You might ask, what has changed? Why am I now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel of these problems? Simple, I have gotten involved.

Our state Land Title Association’s are the backbones of ALTA. We are the support structures that give ALTA its strength to tackle the issues that affect us all. Now, it is true that I am often disappointed with the lack of speed with which ALTA works, but I attribute this to the general speed of Washington politics. Action comes slow, but in this marketplace, inaction as opposed to overreaction can be a positive thing.

I see the most glaring problem with ALTA being its lack interested parties. Our industry, especially when it comes to our agents, fails to take proper ownership in our Association. How is ALTA going to advocate for us when we don’t stand up and be counted. ALTA sometimes makes this difficult, with yearly membership fees, exorbitant pricing for conventions, and their confounding hierarchy, but the benefits of making your voice clear are abundant.

It is with great hope that I say I support the Policy Licensing Initiative. I hope that writing that $195 check to ALTA each year (or hopefully a bit of a larger check for membership) will force agents to speak up. Let ALTA know what is affecting your day to day business. Tell ALTA what current legislation will do in your marketplace and to your company. As much as I like Mike Pryor, he isn’t a mind reader and neither is the Board of Governors. They represent a segment of the industry but members and non-members alike must take some ownership in the importance of our national image and our national product. At worst ALTA now has a larger war chest to fight the battles that need fighting, but at best, ALTA now has a new pool of invested parties to lead us into the next generation of Title Insurance.

Looking ahead…

At the Illinois Land Title Association we are a month from our first Committee meetings of the year. Our new President Paul Cozzi would like to usher in a new age of mentorship within our industry. I firmly stand behind this initiative as without the mentorship of my first boss to the mentorship of my current ownership, I wouldn’t be were I am today. I can’t imagine a time when I will know all there is to know about Title Insurance, but I sure as heck can pass down the knowledge that I have gained over the years.

We are a hard industry to learn… Somewhere between office work and a skilled trade. I would ask all of my readers to help the younger employee within your company. Help them to gain the knowledge that you were taught. This is the same knowledge that will guide our industry for generations to come.

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.