Old Republic Title is pleased to announce it has entered into a strategic agreement with CertifID, a leading wire fraud protection company, to help prevent mortgage payoff fraud in the title industry.
Fraud has become an increasing source of loss in the real estate sector, reaching $446M in a recent FBI public service announcement. About 17% of title companies have sent money to an incorrect account due to fraud, and 49% of those organizations have done so more than once, according to a study by the American Land Title Association (ALTA). Additionally, less than half of title companies have adopted the industry best practice to use a wire verification service.
Mortgage payoffs have become the largest source of loss for title and real estate law firms, due to their large transaction size at $247K in median loss, a complex lender landscape and lack of consistent use of technology. The new package offered by Old Republic Title and CertifID is designed to address this significant source of loss risk.
“Old Republic Title continues to focus on innovation to enable the success of our direct and agency operations,” said Carolyn Monroe, President and CEO of Old Republic National Title Holding Company. “We are excited to leverage the comprehensive approach to fraud prevention that CertifID provides, inclusive of software, insurance, and recovery and support services, to help prevent fraud and create the best experiences for our agents and customers, and all parties involved in real estate transactions.”
“CertifID applauds the leadership by Old Republic Title to invest in solutions that can reduce risk while enabling efficiency in their direct and agency operations,” said Tyler Adams, CEO of CertifID. “We look forward to working together to truly solve the issue of payoff fraud seen across the industry.”
A leader in wire fraud protection, CertifID safeguards billions of dollars every month from fraud with advanced software, insurance, and proven recovery services. Trusted by title companies, law firms, lenders, real estate agents, home buyers and sellers, and others, CertifID provides further peace of mind with up to $1 million in direct coverage on every wire it protects.