Making "Service without Boundaries" Work

American Title Inc.

American Title is the nation's top provider of property reports, closings, title insurance and other essential services to the real estate industry. Based in Omaha, Neb., American Title has a staff of 60 and sends out 1,000 document packages per month.

The Challenge

American Title's slogan is "Service without Boundaries." With its vast network of independent vendors, American Title is able to offer products and services in every county in the nation. That commitment brings many challenges. One of the main ones was how to securely, quickly and efficiently deliver documents to notaries around the country. Using its database of notaries, American Title can deliver the documents to a notary convenient to the borrower. But how to get the documents where they need to be? Traditional, ground-based courier services do the job, but are expensive and add a day or two to the process. Email is fast, but lacks the security assurance required. American Title works with major national lenders making loans throughout the country. One of these major lenders encouraged American Title to investigate secure web-based delivery of documents. After careful analysis, American Title management purchased and implemented SwiftSend LoanDocs in mid 2004.

The Solution

Jennifer Brincks, document preparation trainer, explains how SwiftSend LoanDocs works at American Title. "We receive a closing order and contact a notary close to where the borrower would like to sign," she says. "If we simply do not have time to overnight the documents, we send the notary an email with a link to the secure site where the document image resides. SwiftSend is perfect for delivering documents for same day closings." For American Title, security was the primary concern. But close behind was ease of use. The firm's independent notaries needed a system that is simple and compatible with their office setups. In this process, the notaries only need to install a simple viewer from SwiftView and they can see the documents and print them on any standard printer.

The Results

American Title can now accommodate lenders and borrowers requiring a rapid closing-about 20 loan packages per month. Ms. Brincks says that may only constitute a small percentage of its roughly 1,000 monthly transactions, but that is essential to the customers who need that sort of speedy turnaround. So far, courier bills have not declined, but American Title expects SwiftSend LoanDocs to play an increasingly large role in its business. As notaries become familiar with how well the system works for the quick turnaround closings, they will also see how much more efficient it is for everyday business. "I think once we get a larger percentage of our notaries up to date and set up with SwiftSend, we would be seeing an increase in volume and profitability," says Ms. Brincks.

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