The title insurance industry has long been in need of disruption — and with the help of ATTOM Data Solutions robust property data, the American Digital Title Insurance Company is hoping to be the one to do it.
ADTIC, a member of the Munich Re group of companies, partnered with ATTOM in 2019 to ease the pain points seen in the title search, examination and curative stage of a home purchase — a stage that, according to the company’s president Jim Dufficy, is typically costly, tedious, and unfortunately, vulnerable to error.
“That process can cost a fair amount of money and take a fair amount of time,” Dufficy said. “It can also delay things and even cause a closing to be canceled.”
According to Dufficy, traditional title search, exam and curative efforts are one-size-fits-all. They require trips to the county courthouse, poring over physical property records, and lots of manual work and input on the part of the title agent.
While some properties certainly require this level of scrutiny, Dufficy says a large share do not — leading to wasted time, spend, and energy on all ends of the transaction.
With the help of ATTOM’s detailed property data, ADTIC has created a more custom-fit approach, one that identifies properties with stable titles almost instantly and helps pinpoint potentially problematic homes that might require more attention.
“It’s a new and novel way to move title analysis forward,” Dufficy said.
ADTIC is rolling out its new approach in its home state of Colorado in August, followed by additional states after that. According to Dufficy, once the technology is implemented, it should allow for a simpler, more streamlined curative process, as well as lower costs — both for the company and, eventually, its homebuying clients.
“There’s a lot of money wasted in that old approach, and the consumer pays for it,” Dufficy said. “This way, we can make the whole process simpler and cheaper.”
