Why Title Agents Need to Think of an Integrated Platform

Title agents play a key role in closing real estate transactions. They have to collaborate with mortgage lenders, buyers, sellers, underwriters, recording and tax jurisdictions and other third party entities as they review title, facilitate closings, file and record paperwork as well as assist in issuing title insurance policies. Title agents have to review the public records relating to specific properties and relay all information about the status and condition of title to those interested in that property.
Title agents generally provide this information to each of the parties in the form of preliminary title search reports, or commitment for title insurance. They also provide title research information about foreclosures or if there are any legal actions on the property that the buyers should be aware of. For the default divisions and HELOC divisions within mortgage lenders, they also provide valuable lien information related to relevant properties. All of this information can help a lender make the right decision. For a buyer, he feels secure that title is free of any defects. Title agents also act as closing agents wherein they obtain signatures on all of the closing documents and record all deeds and mortgages at the land records office.
Considering these responsibilities, there are many challenges that title agents face. Earlier everything had to done manually by the title agents so it took a significant amount of time and efforts. Now consumer expectations have changed. Not just millennials, who are said to have less patience as compared to their predecessors, but every generation wants quick solutions for their needs.
Buyers want to complete the purchase transaction on their property at the earliest, so lenders have to strive to satisfy their customers.  They cannot compromise on the quality of services to accommodate these requests. They need to make sure everything is in order with the property or they may eventually end up suffering losses. As title agents end up working for lenders most of the time, they are as much liable to follow all the compliance regulations, as are applicable for the lenders. Thus, they are often pressurized by these lenders into making sure everything is in order so that they can ensure their customer gets their property within shorter amounts of time and with minimum hassles.

Risks involved in managing things manually and why it is not worth it:

To provide quicker solutions, some title agents tend to hurry up the process and try to conduct searches as quickly as possible. There are many risks involved when it comes to carrying out this process manually. For one, they may not be able to identify if the property has any liens attached to it and yet clear it for further processing of loans. Or there could come across redundant data, leading to wastage of time and lengthening the span of loan closure. Either ways, by relying on manual processes, agents are prone to make mistakes. It could subsequently also lead to compliance violations. Compromising on quality of services to save some time is counter-productive. Eventually, it could lead to increasing losses as well as decline in reputation.
These risks can be avoided. The answer is to reduce the number of manual processes and focus more on leveraging technology, i.e. opt for a title production platform.

The advantages of having a title production platform

Reduction in errors

Mistakes can happen to everyone at any point of time. Title agents too are prone to a number of errors and omissions in their responsibilities. However, using a robust title production platform allows for lesser room for error. It helps avoid losing or misplacing documents since there is an almost paperless environment.

Ensure customer satisfaction

Every step of the process is documented and follows a sequence so there is no confusion about what’s the next step in the process. It helps them keep lenders informed about the stage at which the application is and enables more precise title insurance issuance throughout the closing process.
These aspects help ensure your clients more satisfied with the overall manner their application is progressing. They spend lesser amount of time on document processing and focus more on providing better customer service.

Better documentation:

A challenge that has plagued many title agents is bringing together all the required information in one place and getting it organized in such a way that it can be accessible by multiple relevant parties. A title production software provides clear closing system that ensures quicker and simpler real estate transactions. Here title agents and lenders are also able to communicate throughout the process.

Go-paperless

Reduce the clutter caused by the tons of application papers and documents. Not only will it save time and money, it also greatly increases the overall efficiency of the process. Borrowers as well as lenders can quickly exchange important documents with less time, efforts and risk. Since everything is managed on a digital platform, there is no need to maintain physical copies of the documents that inevitable slowed the process. By going paperless, title agents can get rid of problems caused by misplacing or damaging documents.

And lastly – Faster Closing

Like mentioned earlier, people are impatient. They do not want to spend excessive amounts of time to share documents or go back and forth till every transaction is processed. As the title production platform allows title agents to store all important documents within a secure digital record, they can be quickly recalled and assessed as the need arises. Thus, ensuring faster closure of loans, provided everything is in order and follows all compliances.

Why it is becoming a must to manage your settlements through a title production system

Technology has improved our lives to a great extent and made us much more efficient than ever before. It has become a pivotal factor in determining a title company’s efficiency, capability and commitment to providing error-free services. Title agents can use this technology to gather correct information and ensure that the process will be much faster. The primary factor here is that since information is readily available in the system, there is no need to repeat information search.
Any good title company’s desire to grow and provide better solutions should reflect in their actions. If they seek to provide a seamless customer experience, they need to have up-to-date title technology platform in order to streamline the closing process and facilitate a more efficient exchange of information.
With AtClose, Visionet offers workflow based solution meeting the needs of the settlement industry. AtClose is cloud based, so you can access your title and settlement information from any web browser. It involves minimal upfront costs. You also have the option to pay as you go. AtClose helps you in reducing closing time, lowering cost of ownership. It also offers role-based security for data access. AtClose has dynamic integration framework which is easy to connect with other third party systems to exchange data. So whether you want to on-board new customer or send orders electronically to a new signing service within hours you can start testing the data exchange with the partner,
Visionet has recently launched integration of AtClose with Alexa, Amazon’s AI-powered virtual assistant. Visionet will be promoting the technology at the upcoming National Settlement Services Summit in Detroit in June. Make sure you visit table# 225 and get a demo of the same. You could also win yourself a free Alexa.