Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign hello, and welcome to the Bottom Line Meat Podcast. I'm your host, Ann Allard. Today I have a very special guest with me, someone who plays a crucial role in a real estate transaction, and that is a title insurance underwriter. I'd like to welcome Melissa Moreau, a seasoned title insurance underwriter. Melissa has a lot of experience in helping agents achieve successful closings. So welcome, Melissa. Thanks so much for taking some time to join me today.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me, Anne.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Well, it's great to see you.
And so before we get started, could you tell our audience a little bit about yourself, what you do, where you're from?
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Sure.
So I'm one of the Massachusetts underwriters in our Andover, Massachusetts, office, and I've been with Old Republic for three and a half years now. Before that, I was in private practice for 22 years. Most of that time, I was an Old Republic agent. So I'm very familiar with both sides of the conversations that agents have with underwriters.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Wow. That gives you incredible perspective when you're dealing with agents who are obviously.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Calling.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: On you for help with certain underwriting issues. So I think a great place for us to start is let's just talk a little bit about what exactly an underwriter does and how do they contribute to a smooth closing.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, let's start with what underwriting is. Underwriting is the process of getting us from point A, which is the status of a title today, to point B, which is issuing one or more title insurance policies on it. And as an underwriter, you design the roadmap of how you get from point A to point B.
So to that, our agents are the frontline underwriters because they're reviewing the title examinations, making determinations if there's anything that needs to be corrected or addressed in the back title, do we have a clear chain of title? Do we have a good legal description? And then from there again, it's designing that roadmap of here are all of the things we're going to need to have a successful closing and issue good policies.
Now, underwriting counsel jumps in because we're the cavalry when the agent needs a little extra help, if there's anything that has a little extra risk involved or something maybe they're not as familiar with, haven't seen before. Call in the cavalry. That's what we're here for. We're going to help you design that roadmap from point A to point B.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Great way to describe it. So I think one of the important things that I wanted to Address today was collaboration tips. Can you share with our audience how either a title agent or a title attorney can effectively and efficiently collaborate with you as the underwriter when they're faced with some kind of a closing issue?
Any tips?
[00:03:41] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Communicate and more is more. More is not less.
Sometimes you'd be surprised how something that doesn't seem immediately relevant to the question you're asking may help get us to an answer. So it can be helpful, for instance, to give your underwriter the full title exam instead of just the section that your question was about, because the answer may be hiding somewhere else. We're so lucky to live in the technological age that we do that lets us communicate on such a bigger scale than when I started in this industry. And it's wonderful to be able to take advantage of that.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: Yes, without a doubt. I mean, I want to age myself, but I remember the first time a fax came over and I was just fascinated with it. But it has been a game changer and it moves the process along so much more quickly than it used to be. So. So how about communicating with an underwriter? What are some best practices that you could share with us?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Sure. Telling me about your transaction can be helpful because that can change the analysis of risk in a certain situation.
So if your client is an investor who's Planning to build 20 condominium units on a piece of property that may have different considerations, then your clients are buying their first home and planning to live there for the next 20 years.
So again, that that information about what this transaction looks like and what your buyer's needs are or your lender's needs can be very helpful.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: Any preferences on. On the efficiencies of, you know, because, I mean, there's so many different options today. You can text somebody, you can call them, you can email them, you know, and one of the things that I've run into at times is some start a conversation via email and then all of a sudden it moves to text, and it's very difficult to keep track of everything. So do you have any suggestions on that?
[00:06:07] Speaker B: For me personally, starting with an email that includes copies of what we're talking about is generally going to be the best bet for me. I love to have the opportunity to look at the documents and then let's follow up with a phone call. If it isn't something that is best handled just through email. I love talking to our agents. There are definitely situations where phone is the best.
But like I said, at least for me, I know seeing documents is always key.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah, that certainly yeah.
Rather than describing something to be able to take a look at it, read through it, or all of those things, I think probably is really a good suggestion or good advice. But what about, you know, I love to ask about any specific success stories where in this case, you know, or any effective collaboration made a significant difference in resolving a challenge. Do you have any story you could share with us?
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Let's see.
One that comes to mind, a situation a couple of years ago where we had a lot of ambiguity in the title. There was a trust that had potentially failed. The settlor and trustee had died.
It was one that at first blush really looked like it was probably going to be headed to some sort of litigation to resolve.
And I was very happy that my team and I. And I cannot take all of the credit for it because I work on a fantastic team. And when you reach out to one of the underwriters in my office, you are getting the benefit of all of our experience.
And we collaborated together and with our agent to come up with a plan using.
Using the probate, using affidavits from attorneys who had knowledge of facts, getting a deed that was going to be signed by multiple parties. So sort of every base was covered. And in the end, we were all able to come up with something that was comprehensive and avoided the cost and delays that litigation would have brought to the table.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Interesting. Well, I personally know most of the folks on your team living in Massachusetts myself, but so, yeah, you do have a great team. And I think that is one of the things that our agents can rely on, is that they don't just have one source that they can go to. There's a collaborative effort that goes on within your office whenever there's a need. So I think that's really wonderful.
One other thing that I was just interested or curious about is any trends, do you see any current trends or changes in the industry that you think our agents should be aware of today?
[00:09:20] Speaker B: Well, I think that the trend that has been going on for the last couple of years is that there isn't a lot of voluntary mobility among existing homeowners.
And I deal primarily on the residential side of things, so that's what I'm looking at. And, you know, a lot of people are locked into low rates and with prices so high and interest rates where they are, they're not the ones who are selling. So who is selling?
You know, we have an aging population.
That means that there are deaths that are happening or there are people who are no longer capable of independent living. And so a lot of what we're seeing is coming out of that divorce, foreclosure, other sort of life events that lead to the sales of homes. So on one hand, I'm almost every title I touch has death, divorce, foreclosure, or some combination of those things as factors.
And then we have the second stage of that, which is where those life factors led to a sale to an investor who is now selling the property. But that's in the very recent back title to deal with. So if there are three topics that I think every agent should be working to be as familiar with as possible, it's those three.
And again, the underwriting team in whatever state you're in is around to help see you through that.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Interesting.
Whenever I'm talking to an underwriter these days, something that is top of mind for all of us is fraud. Any comments you wanted to share with us on how to stay top of mind with it or anything that you want to make sure that our agents out in the field are aware of as it comes to fraud these days?
[00:11:30] Speaker B: Obviously that's been an issue, unfortunately, for a while, and it only seems to be getting worse.
And I was talking a little earlier about the wonderful technological age we live in, but a downside to that is that it has made fraud easier. And I think it will be interesting and maybe not the best way over the next few years as AI is becoming more prevalent to see what the effect of that is on fraud.
So I know everybody's heard so many times at this point, be vigilant, be vigilant. But that is the continued advice. And also, again, be vigilant for what may be new. You know, we've all heard certain stories about seller impersonation, we've all heard stories about fraudulent payoffs, emails being spoofed.
But we also unfortunately need to be worried about what's coming next after that.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: I can't even imagine, you know, I mean, the first time I heard the phrase seller impersonation, I thought, wait, what? I mean, it just. Yeah, but the bad actors out there are always seem to be getting one step ahead of us all. So. Yeah. Well, thanks. Those are great tips.
And I think there's no question that it has to stay top of mind for all of us, whether we're involved in a transaction or we're just communicating these days. So thank you.
Now, as you may know on our podcast, I always like to ask my guest for some bottom line advice. So I think as it relates to our conversation, give us the bottom line on what advice you would give to somebody who's trying to build a strong relationship with someone like you, an underwriter in a title insurance company.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: I think it's key to remember that title review, that underwriting is part science and part art.
And we, we have that benefit that we can, that there are ambiguities and there are nuances and we can really work together to come up with not necessarily the right solution, because there isn't always the right solution, the right answer.
But if we can work together based on what your clients are looking for, based on what you are looking for, based on what the sellers are looking for and what we're looking for, we can come up with some really great solutions in almost every situation.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Great. Well, that's great advice and I'm very grateful that you were able to take some time to talk with me today. I know it's snowing here in Massachusetts and who knows what the rest of the day will be like, but thanks so much for your time, for your insight, for your expertise on this. Really appreciate it. And to our audience once again, thank you for joining us and hopefully we'll all continue to learn, grow and prosper. Till next time, Thanks.
