We provide comprehensive title services and can manage all or parts of your process to increase capacity or capability in two areas: Title Production and Title Plant Creation/Maintenance.
HDEP International has a 20-year track record in producing title reports for customers throughout the United States. Title production is done within a customer’s production system and reports are generally completed overnight.
Our title plant customers fall into two categories: those with title plants who prefer to outsource the daily posting and those who don’t have a title plant and would like to build one, and perhaps outsource the ongoing maintenance as well.
HDEP International has a 25-year track record in automating title plants and maintaining them on a day forward basis. We have built computerized plants from: county official records; lot and tract books; index cards; slip plants; grantor/grantee indices and court filings.
Title plant automation and maintenance is a specialized task, and HDEP International has developed extensive software, procedures and employee training and monitoring to ensure that plants are built accurately, reliably and efficiently.
HDEP International can conduct title searches anywhere title evidence (title chain and documents) is available electronically. HDEP offers nationwide coverage in areas with remote access. Areas requiring onsite document retrieval are not covered. HDEP staff accesses electronic records from a customer’s title plant, or a customer’s shared access plant, or through the electronic public records where the county recorder provides the grantor/grantee index electronically and offers the public scanned copies of the documents for examination.
Outsourcing saves money because the work is done in lower-cost locations at large facilities with economies of scale. Less understood and discussed: outsourcing also saves money because customers convert fixed costs to variable costs, and revenues and expenses become more closely matched. In this short article, we outline 4 Reasons to Consider Outsourcing Title Production:
Outsourcing brings the added bonus that you have less risk of being dependent on individuals as the predicted, nation-wide Coming Skilled Labor Shortage begins to affect the title business. We work with title insurance companies across the United States, so we have seen what works and what doesn’t. Our customers gain the benefit of this experience and history, many of whom have found that using HDEP’s outsourcing capabilities has become a serious strategy for sustained company growth. HDEP International has long term clients – averaging over 10 years – and has seen the way thoughtful companies have used our capabilities as a Core Growth Strategy. In this video, we explain:
While we don’t have any firm minimum orders per day, we find that it is best if at least 2 people are consistently working on a project. Anything less than that leads to inefficiencies and scheduling issues.
Turn-around time is typically overnight. If you can get an order to us by 5pm (your time), we should have it ready for you by 8am the next day.
Pricing depends on several factors, some of which are a customer’s requirements, title plant availability and the type of systems used.
Title orders are done according to each customer’s requirements. HDEP International does not offer a “standard” or “cookie cutter” product; rather, the customer defines what elements are to be included in each order type, how far back the research is to be done, how various elements are to be considered, and what documents are to be included in the final product (e.g. marked up title chain, copies of documents, tax information, Pacer searches, etc.).
When using a 3rd party for records access, there is usually a search fee and an image extraction fee. The cost for the title evidence is considered a “pass through expense” from HDEP to our customers.
Most customers find HDEP’s pricing to be about 40-50% below the cost to do the work in-house. Click here to get a price estimate. Firm pricing can be offered after we have had a discovery call and understand some of the details of your company’s requirements. There is no charge for the discovery call.
Outsourcing title insurance production services is complicated. Each state has different regulations, underwriter requirements vary, the source documents are not standardized and often require close reading to understand their meaning. To find out if we have worked in your state click here.
Knowledge of local and in-house rules, underwriter requirements and attorney quirks are frequently undocumented. For these reasons, outsourcing title production requires close coordination between a customer and service company – please read more here.
We are proud of our long term relationships built on a platform of integrity and good work. We work for many title agencies around the United States and can offer references upon request and prior approval from the referees. You can read a few client testimonials here:
HDEP does not offer E&O coverage. We offer the highest quality product in the outsourcing world, but we expect that our customers will provide an envelope around the outsourcing – triaging the orders and performing the final Quality Assurance. Our customers remain involved, and because they are researching parts of their documents every day, there is a certain comfort in knowing that their work is being done correctly.
Each state is different and successful outsourcing requires knowledge of geographic variances. Our production staff is required to understand the types of documents, their meaning, and how they relate to each other. With this understanding, they can analyze the documents rigorously and with high accuracy. They understand that the complexity of the documents results in “anomalies” – errors or local conditions that may cause a particular document to be dealt with differently than other documents of the same type. They know that the customer is to be alerted to these oddities, and that the final decision is to be made by a customer’s senior examiner who would have a better idea of the specific local condition.
We leave the final QC to you, so both agent and its underwriter are confident that quality and accuracy are not sacrificed.
The company’s production facilities are located in Manila, Philippines. HDEP employs a staff of approximately 500 title professionals. Everyone speaks English, has a college degree and has had at least a year of rigorous training before preparing title reports. Before qualifying as a searcher/examiner, staff members spend a year indexing title plant documents and becoming familiar with recorded instruments and court documents from different areas of the country. The supervisory and management personnel have long terms of service at the company, being promoted from within as they gain experience and competence. You can read more about HDEP’s extensive training program here: Better Training Results in Increased Accuracy.
When you chose to work with HDEP, we take the time to understand all aspects of your systems and protocols so we can mirror the way you do things. We work directly in your system. This initial set up process may take a few weeks, but at the end of it, you can be assured that our product is essentially identical to what you would produce in terms of format and quality. HDEP has done this many, many times and has developed a step-by-step process to working with new customers. It includes the following:
With adequate time and commitment at the project set up stage, the project’s implementation goes smoothly and client and staff are often surprised at the positive end result: they are able to serve their own customers better and spend their efforts in assuring quality, enhancing the usefulness of the reports and in participating in company growth strategies.
Below are two redacted O&E reports. We redact them to ensure client confidentiality. The other reports would be similar, just more in depth. Daily reports are submitted with an exception report which alerts the client to unusual matters that affect the reports so that their senior examiners can check into them. Sample O&E report 1.0 Sample O&E report 2.0 We are happy to complete a small sample at no cost in order to assess the requirements of the job and to showcase our skill and knowledge levels.
HDEP believes in, and is compliant with ALTA’s best practices. To illustrate our commitment to ALTA’s best practices as well as to our clients, HDEP International’s outsourcing facilities in Manila, Philippines were once again awarded the latest ISO certification for information security and business continuity; meaning our customers can be confident that their information is being handled securely, that procedures and processes are in place to secure the information and to provide an adequate backup in the case of emergencies. ISO 27001:2013 is the most coveted and highest possible internationally recognized certification for information security. You can read more about what is required to attain this certification in this article: HDEP International Production Facilities Achieve Highest International Information Security Certification.
HDEP International is considered the “gold standard” for title production and title plant development – accurate, reliable and trustworthy. HDEP International began serving the title industry in 1989. The quality and reliability of our work is demonstrated by the loyalty of our customers. Our median customer has been with us for ten years, and our oldest customer has worked with us since 1989, now celebrating the 30th year of our association. We know that the title insurance industry is a complex, high-liability business, and companies are hesitant to give up control over their production processes. Many hesitate to consider outsourcing because they are unsure that anyone outside their company can have an understanding of their requirements and their market. If you have hesitated to consider outsourcing, please call us.
Many title agents remain skeptical about title insurance outsourcing solutions. Part of the skepticism comes from uncertainty about how an outsourcing solution may affect a title agent’s relationship with its underwriter.
During our years working with the title industry, we have worked with all four major underwriters (Fidelity, First American, Old Republic and Stewart Title). We understand that underwriters’ concerns are to ensure that claims are kept to a minimum, the work quality remains high, governmental regulations are followed and data security procedures are in place. We work with each party every step of the way to ensure no detail is missed, accuracy is not sacrificed and that the ISO 27001 certification rules take a high priority in the workplace.
When you choose to work with HDEP, we take the time to understand your systems and protocols so we can mirror the way you do things. Our services are customized to each client. We integrate with your system and replicate the way you do things. The product is essentially identical to what you would produce in terms of format and quality – and the product is delivered in the same way – the only difference is who is doing the work.
A quality and accuracy driven approach and methodical set up process reduces the possibility of issues between title agents and their underwriters. The standards and requirements that were established prior to outsourcing are all still in place. We expect our clients to do the final QC on all orders so that, from the underwriter’s perspective, not much has changed.