In many ways, the success of the title industry lies in its ability to collaborate with stakeholders across the mortgage value chain – ensuring there is accountability, a single source of truth, and no duplication. Unfortunately, a title process that’s not automated tends to rely on solo and independent work. This means more time spent on approvals, double and triple checks, and overlapping tasks: all of which could be addressed through an automated collaboration dashboard.

Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, the mortgage industry has been under scrutiny, with the recent pandemic further adding to the complexities. Deloitte expects industry regulations to evolve in as many as 10 areas, ranging from anti-money laundering (AML) to climate change. This will lead to mounting paperwork for property transactions, calling for title process automation. With automated and automatically updated rules to check against compliance norms, the title process can adapt with ease.

While digital systems are overwhelmingly preferred by home buyers, backed processes in mortgages are still stuck in legacy gear. Spreadsheets and paper documents are used for record-keeping, adding to title inefficiencies. Since manual processes are difficult to retrench, companies keep putting off digital transformation projects, intensifying the challenge. Subscription-based automation solutions are needed here to help title companies quickly make the shift.

In the absence of an automated and connected workflow across the mortgage value chain, data exists in disparate, siloed systems. These may be at various levels of digital maturity, ranging from paper records to unstructured PDFs and standalone platforms. As a result, data quality suffers, and there is always a risk of duplication. In a bid to cleanse, process, and analyze data without automated tools, title executives face even more workloads.

The title agent profession predominantly comprises individuals from older age groups, contributing to a challenge in recruitment.  Research indicates that merely 8% of industry professionals fall within the 20-30 age range, while 25% are around 30 years old. The majority, constituting 67%, are over 40. The lack of age diversity in the industry has led to discontent with repetitive tasks and limited scalability, all of which could be alleviated through automation. Digital tools have the potential to capture and preserve the wealth of knowledge held by these experienced individuals, making it reusable for the benefit of the industry.

The process can take anywhere between 30 days to 10 weeks, from pre-approvals and property appraisals to loan origination and payment. The timeline directly impacts borrower experiences, making it imperative to complete the title process as early as possible. This is one of the key industry challenges in a dynamic economy (given highly fluctuating origination volumes) that can be addressed by automation – i.e., having bots complete tasks at a fraction of the time and cost.

Title companies frequently attempt to digital systems in-house to maintain control over data and security, only to realize the capital expenditure and technical expertise involved. Home-grown solutions are capped by the availability of resources, limiting the returns a company can expect from their automation investment. To overcome this challenge, it is important to partner with proven experts in technology and mortgage, focused on cloud solutions that reduce capital expenditure.

The combination of legacy processes and heavy workloads means that title companies need more time to spare for new business acquisitions. Research suggests that more than half of company CEOs and VPs handle around 5 closings a month entirely independently, taking away from their ability to focus on growth. Automated solutions would ease workloads and energize the workplace to attract young talent that is necessary to explore growth opportunities.

Document-related errors – such as mistakes in public records, illegal deeds, unknown liens, forgeries, undiscovered wills, etc. – continue to be one of the top challenges in the title industry. An automated review process that checks for pre-configured parameters would be able to identify these issues early on and initiate a resolution.

While some parts of the closing services performed by title insurance companies can’t and shouldn’t be rushed, advancing technology can facilitate other aspects. For example, collecting closing costs, money for escrow accounts, and other related payments can be performed easily and quickly when using an ACH electronic money transfer system.

The effects of payment fraud and cybercrime can be devastating, ranging from financial loss and identity theft for individuals to reputational damage and legal repercussions for businesses. Given the high volume of sensitive financial information exchanged during the closing process, the title industry is a prime target for these types of attacks. With advancements in technology and security measures, such as multi-factor authentication and encryption, the risk of fraud and cyber-attacks can be greatly reduced for individuals and businesses involved in property transactions.