Uncertainties in the home industry are inevitable. Managing various parties like sellers, agents, and appraisal companies can be complicated. We understand the challenges that home finance professionals face in mortgage loan origination. However, these complexities raise the question of how title companies can prepare for the future of mortgage lending. In search of a better solution, AtClose sheds light on the minimum requirements with the lenders and title agents. Attempting to meet those underlying needs while catering to industry challenges, AtClose designed a complete title industry solution. Read the whitepaper to learn how AtClose's leading order processing technology removed the friction that has been denying the title industry efficiency for so long. Find out more about AtClose: https://www.atclose.com/

1. What Title
Companies Can
Do Now to Prepare
for the Future of
Mortgage Lending
Title Business
White Paper

2. Table of
Contents
03
07
11
05
10
03
Intro
In search of a better solution
for the Title Industry
AtClose offers a
complete solution
The challenges the title
industry faces today
How AtClose is helping
address title industry
challenges
About Visionet
Systems

3. Title Business White Paper | 3
Anyone involved in the home finance
industry knows that originating
mortgage loans is a complex business.
Servicing borrowers requires the best
efforts of a number of different parties,
including the sellers, the agents,
appraisal companies, data verification
firms, credit reporting agencies, title
and closing companies, and the
lender’s own staff. For most lenders,
the process also includes secondary
market investors, warehouse lenders
and due diligence firms.
At a minimum, these relationships are
built around the process of placing an
order, paying a fee and then receiving a
productorservice.However,thisprocess
can quickly become more complex.
The pandemic may be the best recent
example of this, but complications arise
often and can include volume spikes,
changing interest rates or additional
compliance requirements.
For instance, the federal government
has recently turned its attention to the
problem of affordable housing.1
The large and long-standing gap between the supply and demand
of affordable homes for both renters and homeowners makes it
harder for families to buy their first home and drives up the cost of
rent. Higher housing costs also crowd out other investments families
can and should make to improve their lives, such as investments in
education.
According to a Fact Sheet released by the White House staff:
1
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Immediate Steps to
Increase Affordable Housing Supply | The White House. (2021).

4. How the industry will respond to this problem is not yet clear, but it will almost certainly add complexity
to an already complicated process. And then extends up and down the value chain, impacting title
agents and all of their clients:
All of these stakeholders are sending data and information into the transaction and expecting clarity
to come out. That’s a lot to ask. In this paper, we will focus primarily on the title company’s relationship
with the lender and the value it can provide this important partner.
While lenders rely on all of their origination partners to deal with issues like this, there is no stronger
partnership than the one that exists between the lender and the title/closing agent. More information
must flow seamlessly between these partners than between any others. TRID compliance requires
both parties to get that data exactly right.
Together, mortgage lenders and title insurance companies perform a multitude of tasks required to
close mortgage loans and finance homes in a hectic market. As you might expect, these partners are
always working to improve their own workflow efficiencies to better manage their relationship and to
ensure business growth for all parties.
Mortgage lenders
Attorneys
(in many states)
Home sellers
Home buyers
Real estate agents
(on both sides)
Title company staff
and contractors
§ 1026.1 Authority, purpose, coverage, organization, enforcement, and
liability. | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (2022). Title Business White Paper | 4

5. The complexities of the industry only add to the frenzy that lenders and title companies face as they
strive to meet market expectations. While a number of technologies exist to make this process easier,
it has traditionally been difficult to gain the adoption required. This can be a difficult challenge to
overcome when the average age of the professional working in the title industry is now 60 years old
and lower volumes are driving company earnings down.
Preparing for the future when engaged in a complex and fast-changing business is always a challenge,
but for the title companies operating in today’s market, their very survival depends upon their ability
to plan ahead.
In this white paper, we’ll talk about the challenges these firms are currently dealing with and look at
what a perfect solution to these problems would look like for title companies intent on surviving and
thriving in the future mortgage market.
When you consider the borrower (and agent)
touchpoints in the mortgage origination
process, the vast majority fall to the lender
and the title company. Any inefficiencies
or friction-related problems between
these partners will almost certainly impact
the borrower. That will reduce borrower
satisfaction, at a minimum. It will also likely
slow down the process, costing everyone
more.
So, what’s standing in the way of a smoother
process? First, a real estate market that has
been on fire for the past two years.
When COVID struck in the spring of 2020, many thought it would mean the end of real estate sales, at
least until a vaccine could be developed. That’s not what happened. Instead, fueled by low interest
rates and limited housing inventory in desired areas, the market exploded.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Finance Forecast predicted falling volume when it
came out that spring. In hindsight, we can see that overall loan volumes for 2020 reached $3.8 trillion
that year and then rose again in 2021 to over $4 trillion.
Han, B. (2021). The title insurance industry has a talent problem.
Finkelstein, & Finkelstein, B. (2022). Lower mortgage volume drives title earnings
down, Doma layoffs.
MBA’s Mortgage Finance Forecast Archives. (2022).
The challenges
the title industry
faces today
Title Business White Paper | 5

6. The digitally connected millennials and Gen Z
borrowers who now dominate the marketplace
expect a new level of technological expertise
from those who serve them. They want hyper-
personalization and faster closings and they
have little patience for errors. This is forcing
companies to update their software and
configure it with borrower satisfaction in mind.
But that’s not easy when the title company isn’t
in control of the functionality in the software.
This can happen if the tool is closely affiliated
with or controlled by one of the industry’s large
underwriters. While these firms consistently bring
a lot of value to the market, the title company
should be in control when it comes to their
software.
Industry consolidation is putting more software
applications into the portfolios of these big firms,
making it harder for the title company to find a
technology that will allow them to create their
own workflows.
But the biggest challenge title companies face
today is the friction caused by having to juggle a
multitude of tasks, dealing with various vendors
and handling the ensuing sluggish turnaround
times in a manner that satisfies both their lender
partners and the borrowers they both serve.
A study conducted across title agents showed
that 69% of respondents said they are personally
involved in up to 25% of closings in a month.
That’s not efficient and it tells us they are not
using automation effectively.
If the title company’s staff is having to manually
place orders, track them and make phone calls
to keep them on track and then check the results
for accuracy when they are received, there is no
way they can be efficient. On the contrary, they
have little hope of meeting the expectations of
either their lender partners or the borrower.
This problem makes the other challenges we
mention in this paper more significant and
damagingtothereputationandpotentialgrowth
of any title company. And while the problems
may start with their lender relationship, if not
solved they will impact every other relationship
the title agent has in the transaction.
If title companies don’t have an efficient system
that can help them streamline the entire title
production process, they will be unable to
reduce the friction and incapable of meeting
the requirements of either the lender or the
borrower.
To prepare for the future, title industry
participants need a structure that can enable
them to improve operational efficiency, quality
and productivity while empowering their
employees to work smarter and position for
future growth.
But what exactly would such a solution have to
include to solve this problem for the title agency.
Let’s take a closer look.
While some see the market cooling, it will take a
long time to return to anything close to normal.
In the meantime, lenders and their title industry
partners will continue to sling data back and
forth rapidly in an attempt to keep up with the
volume.
While uncertainty about future loan volume
levels is causing some to hesitate, there are
many indicators in the market to suggest that
this is the right time for the title company to
make required changes to its technology stack.
In fact, the risk of lower loan volumes in the
future is one good reason to act now as the right
software will allow title companies to do more
with fewer people should they find the need to
reduce their workforce. It will also make it easier
to ramp back up when volumes return.
But a rapidly changing real estate market is just
one of the challenges these partners face. The
nature of the homebuyer is changing, too.
Title Business White Paper | 6

7. The days of software installed onsite, behind a company’s firewall and maintained by its own staff are
over. Today’s software and the compliance requirements it must meet makes this unworkable. Today,
software must be deployed by developers to the cloud where they can meet and work with their users
virtually.
Title companies, like lenders, need to embrace cloud-based tech tools that allow for a more efficient
closing process and offer the ability to provide a better experience for their client base. In fact, our
Requirement 1:
A system based in the Cloud
As title companies and lenders seek future-
proof solutions, they will have to be ready to
modernize processes and embrace intelligent
automation. Technology will continue to play
an integral role in helping lenders and title
companies become future-ready. But what,
exactly, should these tools offer?
After a careful analysis of discussions we’ve had with both lenders and title agents, we have come up
with the following list of minimum requirements.
In search of a
better solution for
the Title Industry
Title Business White Paper | 7

8. Title companies generally work across multiple divisions, in multiple states. In their work, they interface
with multiple vendor partners to keep up with the flow of refinance transactions and new home sales.
Every closing involves a number of moving pieces, each played by a partner involved in the transaction.
Each vendor comes with certain specialized service expertise, specialized technology and proficiency
in their particular field. Each connection is different and changes as the vendor partner evolves and
the relationship changes. We see this most often when compliance requirements change, requiring
adjustments from multiple partners.
Keeping up with all of these changing connections can be overwhelming, so leading title companies
seek out a transaction management platform that includes a powerful vendor ecosystem to increase
operational efficiency.
A title production platform with a robust integration framework allows easy connections with multiple
systems and partners. Further, as there will be a huge amount of data flowing between the systems,
the platform must be capable of seamlessly accepting different data formats.
Needless to say, accuracy is paramount throughout the entire process.
As both title companies and mortgage lenders rely heavily on vendors for third party services, vendor
due diligence and management is a common challenge for all of them. It could be a big time-saver
for companies if they could decide whether to work with a particular vendor based on their past
performance.
This is why it is necessary for the title production platform to have strong vendor management modules
that can provide title companies with the ability to rate vendors based on their past performance and
commitments. For efficiency, the platform must have the ability to auto-allocate orders based on both
vendor performance and availability.
Easy integration internally and externally
Vendor performance tracking and reporting
Requirement 2:
Requirement 3:
analysis indicates that title companies and their agents should have their entire title production
system hosted in the cloud.
Moreover, if title companies wish to operate in a secured environment, which they must to remain in
full compliance, they will need a strong infrastructure that includes an entire Citrix setup with constant
monitoring. It’s the only way to ensure that they keep their operations running.
To do this on their own would require a significant annual investment, which can be avoided by
operating within a cloud environment. A cloud-based system allows the title company to set up a
virtual office through which it can offer flexibility and always on connections to its business partners.
This is even more important today, when it seems likely that remote working will remain the norm for
the foreseeable future.
Title Business White Paper | 8

9. The primary goal of such systems is to monitor and manage vendor performance. This allows title
companies to measure vendor performance and efficiency over time, which can make the workflow
easier while processing the next set of orders. Such systems help in vendor evaluation and enable title
companies to get maximum ROI from vendors with minimum risk.
Strong vendor management modules can also help title agents to digitally connect with vendors and
avoid unnecessary emails, paperwork and overhead costs. As a result, they can save hours by not
having to deal with inconsistent offline orders. In addition, issues related to fulfillment tracking, record
keeping and accounting can be more easily resolved.
The success of any technology depends upon adoption. Regardless of how many state-of-the-art
features are built into the title production system, it won’t work if title agents find it difficult to use.
In fact, the more features the software offers, the more difficult it can be to provide a good user
experience. Of course, archaic and boring systems don’t get adopted either. This means the title
production system should offer a smart UI/UX, to facilitate easy user adoption.
Fortunately, smart UI/UX comes out of the box with most applications today. The problem comes when
the title company wants to alter it to fit its own needs. Many applications won’t allow modifications.
When they do, they often require IT support that doesn’t come with the package. A better solution
includes some level of IT support.
Since title companies have very expansive workflows, it is necessary that the system they work with is
able to cover all the different title and settlement related elements, including title production, funding
and disbursement, post-closing, scheduling and closing.
The solution cannot be one that focuses on only a few functionalities in isolation and does not deliver
on the rest. Title companies should look for a robust end-to-end-solution that covers all aspects of
the title workflow. A system that comes with a combination of value, ease of use, adaptability, and
performance is an ideal choice for title businesses of any size.
Very few existing technologies meet all of these requirements, but finding one is the surest way for title
companies to prepare for a future that hasn’t come into focus yet.
Leveraging advanced technologies matched with automation efficiencies during title production can
enable title companies to focus on quality control while improving turn-time, accuracy and customer
service. This is what it will take to succeed in the future.
Better control of a robust UI/UX environment
Requirement5:Comprehensiveworkflowsbuiltintothesystem
Requirement 4:
Requirement 5:
Title Business White Paper | 9

10. Visionet is a global technology company with
25 years of industry experience. We have been
studying this industry for many years, providing
software solutions that are used by companies
all across the space. The challenges and
requirements highlighted in this white paper
prompted us to develop our industry leading
solution AtClose.
Forthepast12years,AtClosehasbeeninoperation
as a vendor exchange and has, over that time,
perfected its order processing technology such
that it now offers every advantage discussed in
this white paper. We have removed the friction
that has been denying our clients efficiency for
so long.
We have had great success helping title agents
overcome some major challenges that have
held them back from a more efficient workflow
process through these solutions. We are
underwriter agnostic and offer various levels
of IT support to help title companies make the
software their own.
How AtClose is
helping address
title industry
challenges

11. AtClose offers a
complete solution
AtClose helps vendors and title agents become future ready
by offering them a cloud-based, configurable workflow
solution. AtClose’s scalable solutions enable faster closings
and data driven insights for better communication and
shorter cycle time.
As a cloud application, AtClose users can access their Title &
Settlement information from any browser anywhere, anytime,
and from any device. Since no special hardware or software
installation is required, AtClose on the cloud yields excellent
ROI.
AtClose includes a robust vendor management module that
includes scorecards, reporting dashboards, and assignment
decisions that can be configured to meet the needs of title
companies. Rules by product, location, price, quality, and
service levels are all taken into consideration to route orders
in the most efficient manner possible.
AtClose’s navigation is intuitive with enhanced menus.
Product bloat has been avoided to offer a more focused and
efficient experience for title agents. A user friendly interface
design and intuitive navigation leads to faster user adoption.
Powered by X1 Analytics to automate title decisions, title
companies are empowered to deliver title commitments
faster, helping lenders close more loans more quickly, and
reduce the costs associated with title production and title
curative. In addition, the system can mirror existing workflows
and streamline interactions with legacy systems without
requiring the user to leave the application.
Offering effective technology
Offering a strong cloud system
Offering strong vendor management
Offering effective UI/UX
Offering optimized workflows
Title Business White Paper | 11

12. Visionet Systems is a full-service IT consulting
and services company serving global brands.
For over 25 years, it has delivered digital solutions
and services that help enterprises increase
agility, reduce costs, and minimize business risk.
In July 2021, the company was named a finalist
of the 2021 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce
PartneroftheYearAward.In August 2021, Arshad
Masood, CEO & Managing Director, Visionet, was
named the winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The
Year® 2021 New Jersey Award.
sales@AtClose.com
Headquarters
4 Cedarbrook Drive, Bldg. B
Cranbury, NJ 08512
Tel: +1 609 452 0700
Fax: +1 609 655 5232
Pittsburgh
111 Technology Drive,
Pittsburgh, PA 15275
Tel: +1 412 927 0226
Fax: +1 412 265 4182
New York
27 W. 24th Street, #1108
New York, NY 10010
Tel: +1 347 966 5336
Fax: +1 609 655 5232
About Visionet
Systems
If you operate a title company and are responsible for preparing your enterprise for the future of
mortgage lending, we want to introduce you to AtClose.
If you’re looking for great client support, an all-in-one system that is underwriter agnostic, with built-in
workflows, the power to customize with IT support and the ability to white label the system with your
own branding, you owe it to yourself to find out more about the AtClose technology described in this
white paper. Fortunately, it’s very easy to do.
See the system for yourself by scheduling a demo at your convenience by visiting us online at AtClose.