Doma supports controversial White House title pilot

Doma Holdings’ management is embracing the White House’s title insurance waiver pilot, saying it is one of the only companies in the industry that has the technology to support the initiative.

The company is bucking the American Land Title Association, the title industry trade group that opposes the plan because it says the pilot turns the government-sponsored enterprises into “de facto title insurers” even though they lack the expertise in this form of risk management.

But Doma’s CEO Max Simkoff claimed his company was one of the only title firms that had the proven technology and underwriting capabilities to participate in the Federal Housing Finance Agency pilot.

“Because our technology operates using a completely automated front end, we can not only provide it as a licensed offering to the GSEs for the majority of refinances that they purchase from lenders… but also provide a seamless and instant integration with any lender who might choose to participate in this program,” Simkoff said on the company’s earnings call.

Simkoff said he was “dismayed” by ALTA representatives’ comments that the pilot would not benefit low-income and/or minority home purchasers.

“Our own data from the past several years has shown that the majority of conforming refinances were completed by individuals who are below 120% of their area median income, the definition of lower moderate income utilized by the GSEs,” Simkoff said. “And again, our technology was used to safely underwrite over 75% of these transactions.”

Doma was the only title underwriter reporting after the State of the Union speech. After the big four players disclosed results, Fitch Ratings in a March 5 report noted that revenues in aggregate for these companies was down 29% last year, because high mortgage rates suppressed transaction volume.

“Results in 2023 were driven by continued low levels of refinance volumes, which are extremely sensitive to changing mortgage rates, and a decline in demand for purchase orders as rates and affordability concerns affected consumers,” the Fitch report said.

It noted the cybersecurity incidents at Fidelity National Financial and First American Financial highlighted the ongoing operational risks for title insurers.

In the short term, these events should not affect the ratings of either company.  But going forward, “Fitch is continuing to monitor any long-term financial, operational or reputational impacts, as well as potential governance or risk management issues that could arise.”

Below NMN reviews earnings of the title insurers for the fourth quarter.