Title insurers are wrapping up a banner year, as rising home sales and prices helped the industry set another new record for premiums written during the third quarter and well into the fourth. The fourth quarter of 2020 was a very lucrative quarter for the title insurance industry, and title insurance premiums were up 33.6% from the fourth quarter of 2019. Data for the fourth quarter of 2021 have not been released as of yet.
The top underwriters are closing on a record-breaking year
The top underwriters in Q3 of 2021 by market share included First American Title Insurance Co., with 20.7%, Old Republic National Title Insurance Co., with 14.8%, Chicago Title Insurance Co., with 14.1%, Fidelity National Title Insurance with 13.5%, and Stewart Title Guaranty Co., with 8.2%. While these numbers all paint a promising picture for the industry, the title industry is still struggling with many of the same issues that other industries are struggling with right now like staffing shortages and outdated technology.
ALTA’s 2021 year-end report is around the corner
The title insurance industry generated $6.8 billion in title insurance premiums during the third quarter of 2021, according to ALTA’s latest Market Share Analysis. This is the best-performing quarter on record as title premium volume is up 32.5% compared with the same period a year ago. Numbers look extremely promising as we approach the end of 2021 with no signs of slowing down despite the national COVID-19 pandemic.
1. The title insurance industry is booming
“With $566.8 million of net income, the industry continued its strong financial position. Total assets were almost $11.6 billion, including $10.5 billion in cash and invested assets. Statutory surplus is almost $5.5 billion and statutory reserves are strong at over $5.0 billion” – HousingWire
2. Outdated technology is getting a much-needed update
“Not only are ALTA members handling record volume, but title industry professionals continue to help enhance the customer experience to make the settlement process more efficient,” ALTA CEO Diane Tomb said in a statement.
3. Title Insurance growth across all types
Source: American Land Title Association
Independent title insurers as a whole grew by 30 percent to $1.331 billion.
4. The top 5 states are:
The five states with the largest yearly increases in title premium volumes in Q3 were:
Texas, $943.6 million (37.7%)
California, $788.6 million (23.9%)
Florida, $730.1 million (49.1%)
New York, $369.3 million (52.1%)
Pennsylvania, $295.6 million (35.8%)
How 2022 will look for title insurance
Here’s a look at some of the trends expected in 2022 for the title insurance industry.
Title insurance is a multibillion-dollar business. The title industry, which includes title insurers and title agents, supports more than 300,000 jobs. Roughly forty‑two million real estate transactions took place nationwide in 2017. Despite the size of the industry, 2022 will be a year of innovation and adaptation for all title insurance agencies. The agencies that can change and adapt to new technology and current post-pandemic trends will be the ones at the top of the list in the near future.
Even though title insurance has been around for decades (since the 1950s), the industry is currently experiencing some major changes spearheaded by both current events like the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as technological advancements like blockchain technology. These are expected to make big waves in the industry as we move forward into 2022 and beyond.
About Tryon Title
For over 10 years, Tryon Title Agency has been dedicated to providing the best customer service and fastest turnaround times with incredible accuracy. As a local North Carolina business, we also pride ourselves on understanding the unique needs of your location and situation. With our full staff of in-house underwriters, you can expect revisions back within 10 minutes, and preliminary opinions back within the hour at the most!
Additionally, we have a dedicated team to search our five sites for prior policies, as well as a policy team known for getting final policies out within 24 hours!
Your requests are our top priority, and we are committed to honoring the time-sensitive nature of your needs, no matter how big or small the task.
The new Tryon Title rate calculator helps users calculate title insurance rates in their area and property value, giving users an idea of the cost of title insurance. The rate calculator cuts right through any barriers standing between potential customers and obtaining title insurance. Using the calculator is simple, and is the fastest way to get an estimated price point without having to talk to a real person.
Developing a Solution for Real Estate Attorneys
Signing paperwork is only the beginning of the process of purchasing a home.” might sound better. There are still several responsibilities that must be handled prior to the finalization of the purchase. After the title has been thoroughly examined by a real estate attorney, the transaction must be properly closed, finalized, and distributed in order to avoid disruptions or issues relating to the transfer of the title from one party to the other. Tryon Title hopes that its rate calculator will make it easier and quicker than ever for users to get an estimated title insurance premium quote on their own time, without having to contact someone directly.
How the Title Insurance Calculator Works
Our rate calculator is more comprehensive than most other quote calculators available today. We made sure to incorporate different aspects of the rate calculation method. In addition, we provide helpful notes and guidance as you’re filling out the calculator so you can get the most accurate estimate possible.
Our calculator was intended to be a helpful tool for all of our clients that need to be able to have a good faith estimate without the need to talk to a real human. Our team understands the importance of time, and every second counts.
Quick & Easy to Use
Some title insurance calculators currently available have more bells and whistles than you really need. Our objective was to create something that would be simple and fast. This way you have the price within seconds.
Save & Print
You can print or save your calculations with the click of a single button. Nothing is worse than having to
One Phone Call Away
Our team is just a phone call away and ready to answer any questions you may have related to your calculations. We pride ourselves on being able to get revisions back to our customers in 10 minutes or less.
Top of the Line Rate Calculator
Whether you’re calculating a good faith estimate, or simply need to calculate title rates and fees, Tryon Title’s intuitive rate calculator can be a valuable resource for you. Our simple-to-use design allows you to get the title rate information you need – when you need it.
For over 10 years, Tryon Title Agency has been dedicated to providing the best customer service and fastest turnaround times with incredible accuracy. As a local North Carolina business, we also pride ourselves on understanding the unique needs of your location and situation. With our full staff of in-house underwriters, you can expect revisions back within 10 minutes, and preliminary opinions back within the hour at the most!
Additionally, we have a dedicated team to search our five sites for prior policies, as well as a policy team known for getting final policies out within 24 hours!
Your requests are our top priority, and we are committed to honoring the time-sensitive nature of your needs, no matter how big or small the task.
In the last few years, there has been a lot of talk concerning how the title insurance industry will change with the introduction of blockchain. There’s no doubt that the title insurance industry has been advancing toward a digital transformation. In these times, it only makes sense that we would identify which technologies can change the industry, all while offering the most benefits. Blockchain has undoubtedly proven to be one of the most exciting technologies poised to impact the industry. So let’s dive into the fuss of blockchain and title insurance.
Today, Tryon Title will be exploring what blockchain is, its benefits, and its impact on the title insurance industry. With more than 25 percent of title reports detailing some form of defect to the title, blockchain stands to offer new means of accessing ownership information and lowering the costs to obtain an abstract of the title. But how will it change the industry as we know it?
Essentially, a blockchain is a database responsible for maintaining a digital record of transactions. The term “blockchain” refers to the structure itself whereby individual records (or transactions) are known as “blocks” that are “chained” together within a single list. Blockchains are most widely known for recording cryptocurrency transactions, such as Ethereum smart contract execution and Bitcoin.
Whenever a transaction is included in a blockchain, it is both verified and validated by multiple computers via the internet. The need for the centralized recording of transactions is all but eliminated as these computer networks are specifically configured to allow peer-to-peer transactions. In this way, the network of computers can coordinate, ensuring that each transaction is validated before including it in the blockchain.
It should also be noted that when transactions are recorded within a blockchain, they are intentionally difficult to alter past transactions. This is because to make a change, all subsequent blocks would have to be changed first as they are all “chained” together. But how will blockchain be used within the title insurance industry?
What Are the Benefits of Blockchain For the Title Insurance Industry?
To understand the benefits of blockchain for the title insurance industry, we must first discuss how the title insurance process works. A key component of processing a property transfer involves providing insurance to guarantee rights. Insurance is provided to defend against many issues with a property title, including tampering, breaches, inaccuracy, or fraud perpetrated against the property owner themself. Several defects could be uncovered within a property title, including the following:
Deeds by minors
Invalid powers of attorney
Undisclosed heirs
Gaps in the chain of title
Improperly recorded documents
Incorrect legal descriptions
Errors in tax records
False impersonations
Tax liens
Forged documents
Title insurance companies are also responsible for verifying and ensuring that a buyer or lender (depending on the type of title insurance) gets either clean ownership or a lien position in the land in question. Blockchain will change many aspects of how these processes are carried out, introducing many benefits. Here’s what title insurance companies can expect from the introduction of blockchain into their everyday operations.
Added Security
If a hacker could hack into a blockchain block, any altering of the ledger would be both immediately and permanently visible. If alterations were made to a block, any transaction that doesn’t match every subsequent transaction would be corrected by the others via consensus. This process means that each copy of the blockchain stored by each node is identical.
The ability of blockchain to immediately detect erroneous or potentially fraudulent information helps to support the reliability of the records, making the job of title insurance companies much more straightforward. In this way, it is the ideal technology for verifying ownership records, and that’s the mission of title insurance companies.
Despite the added security that blockchain will provide, human involvement will remain a critical part of the process. After all, this will be necessary to resolve situations flagged by the blockchain to ensure the integrity of the records. In this way, there will still be a continued reliance on the title insurance industry to clear all defects affecting a title.
Supports Smart Contracts
One of the most significant ways that the title insurance industry will benefit from using blockchain is through smart contracts. Smart contracts are a form of e-closing that is beginning to be embraced by the real estate industry. More than 1,700 out of 3,000 counties in the United States have created an e-recording platform. Many banks are also starting to adopt technologies that turn their documentation into e-docs. With blockchain and the widespread acceptance of this form of technology, smart contracts are expected to become more of the norm.
With a smart contract supported by blockchain, it will be possible to automatically update ownership and transfer funds between parties, all with just a few clicks. This is a massive benefit for the industry as the closing process would revolutionarily change, becoming more effortless than today’s standard means of closing.
Improving Record-Keeping
Another way that blockchain will benefit the title insurance industry is through a significant improvement of record-keeping. While fraud and tampering are currently huge concerns for title insurance companies, blockchain technology is expected to all but eliminate these instances within ownership records. Furthermore, it would convert land records to a distributed ledger. As stated before, no record can be altered within a blockchain without updating all previous records. Every record would have to be given the okay by trusted parties when updated to the chain.
Blockchain will offer added security that hasn’t been a part of title record-keeping up to this point. Blockchain, by design, will prevent bad information from disrupting the chain. Additionally, any attempts to tamper with the chain will be much more easily detected and avoided. This is a massive upgrade from the current county ledger that title insurance companies currently find themselves working with.
Improved Efficiency
Because the use of blockchain will mean secure, real-time data that eliminates the need for a third-party intermediary to either advance processes or reconcile information, blockchain will majorly improve efficiency. Further, this will significantly reduce manual costs and delays. Blockchain can also make searches of land records faster and more efficient by aggregating and associating records relative to each property.
Saves Money
Thirty percent of all title insurance losses are fraud-related. By adopting a safer land registry database, there is a potential to save the real estate industry between 2 and 4 billion in costs, according to the 2016 report by Goldman Sachs.
Additionally, title insurers could reduce overhead costs associated with performing title searches by embracing blockchain. By using a blockchain land registry, title insurers could perform title searches in a matter of minutes due to the ease of locating records. Finally, blockchain also reduces transactional risks that are especially prevalent in the current recording process, such as indexing errors.
How Will Blockchain Impact the Industry?
Now that you understand the benefits secured by blockchain related to the title insurance industry, you may be wondering about the impact we expect to see. While some have supported the idea that the introduction of blockchain will eliminate the need for title insurance entirely, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While blockchain will certainly offer benefits to title insurers, it isn’t likely to overrule their value altogether. There are two main reasons for this: state law considerations and risk mitigation.
State Law Considerations
Let’s start by discussing state law considerations. When a grantee of real property gives proper notice that they own a specific parcel of real estate, they are tasked with recording their deed in compliance with their state’s recording statute. In most cases, the state’s recording statute will require that a deed is recorded within the county’s official records to provide constructive notice. Most of these statutes do not allow for constructive notice given through blockchain. Because of this, each state’s law would have to be amended accordingly to qualify for this process. We don’t expect this change to take place anytime soon.
Risk Mitigation
Secondly, blockchain isn’t likely to eliminate the need for title insurance due to risk mitigation factors. Title insurance provides indemnity coverage for claims made by third parties against those named as insured in the policy. If a claim were to arise in this case and the title is different as stated in the policy (with the insured suffering a loss), a title insurance company will have various options to establish the title as insured.
Blockchains are suitable for creating a secure chain of potentially unalterable ownership. Still, record matters aren’t the only thing impacting a title’s marketability. In this way, even with all of blockchain technology’s potential, it will never entirely eliminate disputes over property rights. Title insurance, on the other hand, offers those insured protections. For this reason, title insurance will likely remain necessary as a valuable tool if disputes arise over ownership despite the utilization of blockchain technology in the industry.
Title Insurance Will Remain Key
In conclusion, it is not expected that blockchain will eliminate the need for title insurance. Instead, we hope that blockchain will prove helpful in introducing many innovations, consolidating the market over the coming decades. There are many benefits that blockchain presents to title insurance companies and their customers. Still, the need for title insurance will remain as key as ever.
If you’re looking for a title insurance company that keeps your needs at the forefront, look no further than Tryon Title. We are North Carolina’s top independent title insurance agency and believe in the power of title insurance to protect you. As the industry changes, we have made it our mission to adapt, always presenting the best quality of service available.
We look forward to serving you as your dedicated title insurance agency- contact us today for assistance!
