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The Leadership Lessons Nobody Learns From Getting Everything Right
Careers are much tidier in hindsight than they are while you’re living them. A free on-demand conversation with Birmingham Title Agency COO Liz Casselman and WFG’s Jaime Dyer, moderated by SoftPro’s Leslie Wyatt, gets into the useful parts leadership panels often skip: confidence, self-advocacy, hard decisions, mistakes that become better judgment and the advice experienced leaders wish they had heard earlier. The recording is free, and the emphasis is refreshingly practical rather than performative.
A $14 Million Fraud Suit Puts the GSE Funding Rules in Context
A federal lawsuit in Maryland alleges a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud scheme involving multifamily transactions, giving a very concrete backdrop to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s tighter rules over who can handle funding functions. The lawsuit did not trigger those rules, but it is a useful reminder of what they are trying to control: when large sums move through complex transactions, who touches the money is not a clerical detail. More prescriptive closing requirements are usually somebody else’s expensive lesson.
Florida Title Is Juggling Fraud, AI and a Market That Refuses to Behave
Florida Land Title Association Executive Director Scott Merritt says the state’s title market is dealing with seller impersonation, wire fraud and AI at the same time it works through a challenging market. That combination is more useful than another generic market forecast: agencies are being pushed to defend transactions, evaluate new technology and keep the business moving while the underlying market stays uneven. The interview is a compact snapshot of the pressures showing up at the agency level.
🐐Wicked Trends & Forces🌳
The patterns worth paying attention to…
🔒The Fed got a friendlier inflation signal, but the market that sets the tone for mortgage rates did not respond the way title volume would like. At the same time, some purchase-market conditions are improving without producing the obvious transaction response.
Upgrade to see what those two disconnects may be telling us about where volume can actually move.
👀 Things Wandering Toward Your Workflow
New tools, vendor launches, and tech experiments making their way toward the closing table.
👀 Get on the Workflow Watchlist
Closinglock Is Joining CertifID—and the Closing-Tech Stack Is Starting to Consolidate
CertifID has acquired Closinglock, bringing fraud protection, secure money movement and closing workflow tools under the same roof. CertifID also acquired CloseSimple earlier this year, so this is becoming a bigger story than one vendor buying another. Title companies have spent years stitching together separate tools for fraud, payments, communication and workflow; now some of those pieces are starting to combine. Fewer handoffs could simplify operations—but it also makes vendor strategy, integrations and implementation decisions more consequential.
🔒What happens when software starts making more decisions upstream while old integrations are being shut down downstream?
Upgrade to see what those two changes mean for the humans still responsible for getting the work done.
Did your email cut off this newsletter? Be sure to read to the end.
⚖️Legal
Regulatory updates, Claims, Lawsuits, & Enforcement
National
A Federal Judge Says the CFPB Cannot Simply Be Starved of Funding
A federal judge has again rejected the argument that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be shut down by refusing to request operating funds. The ruling requires the bureau to remain funded while the underlying litigation continues. For the mortgage and settlement industries, that keeps the CFPB alive as a regulator for now—even as the larger fight over its structure, authority and funding continues elsewhere.
HUD Just Made Section 184 Loans More Expensive Up Front
Beginning Oct. 1, HUD increased the upfront guarantee fee on new Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Program commitments, including refinances, from 1% to 1.5%. The upfront fee for the program’s Skilled Workers Demonstration loans rises from 0% to 1%; annual guarantee fees remain at zero. That is a direct borrower-cost change on affected transactions and should be reflected wherever teams are estimating or explaining cash needed for closing.
State
🔒Three Oct. 1 changes hit very different parts of the closing workflow: one is almost comically administrative, while the others move much closer to identity and fraud controls.
Upgrade to see which state changed what—and what now has to happen on the file.
📖 Book of the Month
Nothing turns a smooth transaction into a negotiation circus quite like an inspection report full of unfamiliar red flags. Quintavius Bell’s guide is written for real estate agents, but the closing-side perspective is useful too: how to choose an inspector, read the report, recognize common trouble spots and keep inspection findings from becoming bigger deal drama than they need to be.
🎟️Events
🎟️ CertifID + 🔒 Closinglock: What’s Next for CertifID
CEO’s Tyler Adams, Andy White, and Paul Stine will take your questions live📅 October 8th | ⏰ 12pm ET | 📍 Register Here
💼 Job Postings
• Title - Escrow Officer - Lennar Title
Highlands Ranch/Lakewood, CO | 26.88–42/hour
Manages escrow files through closing, including title requirements, documents, funding, disbursement and recordation.
• Senior Escrow Accountant - Spartan Title / New Western
Plano, TX | Hybrid
Owns escrow trust accounting, three-way reconciliations, underwriter premium accounting, audits and multi-state compliance for New Western’s title subsidiary.
• National Commercial Title Coordinator - Godot Consulting Group
Remote | Multiple U.S. markets
Coordinates complex multi-state commercial transactions, including title review, proformas, policies, surveys, UCC searches, billing and title clearance.
• Escrow/Title Assistant - AmTrust Financial Services / Mason Title
New York, NY | 20–31/hour
Handles residential transactions from contract through closing, including curative work, balancing, disbursement, recording and policy-related tasks.
• Escrow Officer - First American
Anchorage, AK | 26.88–35.83/hour
Manages escrow transactions from opening through closing, including title clearance, documents, settlement statements, funds and disbursement.
• Licensed Escrow Officer - gpac
Granbury, TX | 60,000–80,000
Manages title files from opening through funding, including commitments, Schedule B and C items, curative work, surveys, payoffs and closings.
• Title Curative Specialist - Solidifi
United States | 45,000–50,000
Clears mortgages, liens, vesting issues and other title requirements to move residential files to clear-to-close.
• Escrow Technician - DHI Title
Fort Worth, TX
Supports escrow production by preparing files and gathering the information and documents needed to move transactions toward closing.
• Title Curative Specialist - Newrez
Fort Washington, PA
Reviews and resolves title defects involving vesting, liens, judgments and other issues that can prevent marketable title or delay closing.
• Title Searcher - Old Republic Title
Dover, DE
Searches property and public records to identify ownership, liens, encumbrances and other matters affecting title.
💼 Place Your Job Posting Ad Here
Stay Wicked,
Cheryl
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**DISCLAIMER**
Content is for informational purposes, operational awareness and workflow strategy. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, it is not meant to be a compliance directive or replace the specific legal/financial advice of your retained experts. As always evaluate new information & tools with your underwriter/attorney, accountant/financial advisor, IT/security team, and internal policies, as needed, before implementation.
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