Closelines Settlements Featured In National Mortgage News

Closeline Settlements was recently featured in the October issue of National Mortgage News.

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Mortgage closing rules not only vary from state to state, in some states they can differ in each county.

By Brad Finkelstein

Closeline Settlements, a title agency, escrow and closing firm here, sets itself apart from the competition by being able to offer mortgage originators services in all 50 states. And the company says that unlike its competition, which it claims to be networks of outsourced relationships, it has a national network of fully staffed offices.

Tanya Themistokleous, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Closeline Settlements, notes the company handles all sorts of transactions, including split closings (where the buyer is in one state and the seller another), reverse mortgage closings, and closings on short sales and distressed real estate properties.

By using Closeline, she explained, originators have a single point of contact nationwide. They don't have to deal with one provider in one state, a different one in another state and so forth. Furthermore, Closeline provides them a level of consistency in terms of service.

That is what brings a majority of the clients in, she said. It wasn't as much they have a problem with the multitude of providers, but in today's world time is important. Originators want things done in an efficient manner and dealing with 10 points of contact in 10 different states is not efficient. Ms. Themistokleous said it is a "huge competitive advantage" for clients to only have to deal with one person nationally.

It makes certain its services conform to state law. In what she termed "strict and true attorney states" such as South Carolina, Delaware and Georgia, only lawyers do the closing and title work. Other states require the company to have a physical office there in order to conduct business.

There is also a compliance department at Closeline whose job it is to keep up with the changes in regulations at the state and local level. "That is part of what we do. We need to make sure that we are on top of the regulations that change and the laws that change and the things that are added daily to insure that we are in compliance with how everything needs to be done from a closing perspective," explained Ms. Themistokleous.

Even changes on the federal level have affected Closeline. Everything is now being scrutinized, especially in terms of fees that need to be disclosed, especially in terms of accuracy. The changes have led title companies to look at their operations and processing and make sure it has tightened up to ensure accuracy in the disclosure. The aim is no surprise at the closing table.

Its clientele ranges from two-person offices doing only two deals a month through nationwide lenders that close 500 deals a month. "We are very varied in the type of clients we have," including mortgage brokers and direct lenders. "We're happy to help whoever it is that needs are services, " Ms. Themistokleous said.

When it comes to reverse mortgage loan closings, the company has a specialized division to handle this product. It has been doing this product for approximately eight years. The division, she continued, is knowledgeable about the ins and outs of reverse mortgages, such as how the HUD-1 disclosure has to be prepared. The company is an approved settlement agent for Financial Freedom.

On the forward side, the company is seeing a lot of FHA loans as well as lot of loans on properties being purchased out of foreclosure. It is a different process to do short sales and foreclosures, she noted. It requires more work on the clearing and processing side after the search has come back.

There is a lot more tasks to take care of between the time the title order is opened and when the loan closes. "You have to make sure everything is clear. You have to make sure you are abiding by all of the bank's requirements. It is a lot harder for the investors to find a lender that wants to even deal with a short sale.

"So the process is definitely more involved and longer but it opened up a market for a lot of people," she said. Adding to the complexity is that the states have their own rules on how they want these loans to be handled.

Clients can order Closeline's services through a Web-based settlement system. They create a secure account, and no matter if it's one person or 10 people at the company, they all have access to the same information. They can place and track orders, they are able to download binders and other forms. They can also get the final documents post-closing online.

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