California-based Atlas Title Co. continues its expansion across the country. It is now licensed in 20 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. In May, it was licensed in six
In mid-July, Atlas was operational in eight of those states and expected to be operating in all 20 by the end of September.
“Our plan was to be licensed in 20 states by the end of the year,” Atlas CEO Ron Frazier told The Title Report. “We’ll probably be closer to 30 in our first year. We are growing very quickly.”
Atlas is lender-focused, he said, attributing that to the company’s growth. The lender community is not one that legacy title companies generally concentrate on, Frazier said.
“Our focus is driving our expansion, because every lender we talk to asks us to come to the states they work in,” he said. “Lenders’ general lack of comfort with their existing providers is what has created our growth.”
Frazier believes the company’s pricing is another expansion driver.
“When you think about technology and manufacturing-based industries, pricing usually goes down as the underlying process matures. Why has that not happened in the title industry?” he asked.
As Atlas extends its reach, it makes the title company more valuable to lenders. That, in turn, generates more referrals, Frazier said.
“Although the consumer has the absolute legal right to pick settlement service vendors, they rarely do,” he said. “The lender and the Realtor have driven where the title order goes historically. Helping the consumer become more educated about title and escrow is an endeavor that is probably worth solutioning for long term.”
