Stewart Title Co. and Stewart Title Guaranty Co., wholly owned subsidiaries of ""Stewart Information Services Corp."":http://www.stewart.com in Houston, Texas, announced Wednesday the launch of new RESPA-compliant online rate calculators for lenders.[IMAGE]The calculators are rolling out nationwide through Stewart Title offices and through Stewart Title Guaranty's network of agencies.
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) reform went into effect on January 1, 2010, requiring lenders to provide residential homebuyers with a new type of Good Faith Estimate (GFE). The GFE gives customers an estimate of their settlement charges and a summary of loan terms. In the RESPA reform, title fees fall within a tolerance level group that cannot vary more than 10 percent in aggregate, making it crucial that the estimates received by the lender customer from their title agency are accurate.
""In an effort to continue to improve our customer's experience and in light of new RESPA regulations, we are pleased to announce new online rate calculators for our Stewart Title Company operations,"" said Stewart Morris Jr., president of Stewart Title and chairman of PropertyInfo Corp.
[COLUMN_BREAK]Morris says Stewart Title's new rate calculator, Lender ExpressQuote, will allow the company's lender customers to quickly generate reliable electronic quotes for title service fees, title premiums, recording fees, and transfer taxes. These quotes are easily downloaded and email-compatible in the new lender-friendly GFE format, he explained.
Stewart's Lender ExpressQuote is now available at a growing number of Stewart Title affiliate operations. Lender customers can access the new online quoting capabilities through the ""parent company's Web site"":http://www.stewart.com/lenderexpressquote or ""local Stewart Title office Web sites"":http://www.stewart.com/interactivemaps.
""Additionally, our independent agencies will be able to offer their lender customers the same online calculator capabilities via GFExpressQuote,"" said George Houghton, EVP of the agency services group at Stewart Title Guaranty. ""GFExpressQuote will allow our agencies to private-label the closing cost calculator and offer it on their company Web site for their lender customers to receive quotes and place their orders directly with the agency.""
GFExpressQuote for independent agencies is also available on ""Stewart's site"":http://stewart.com/gfexpressquote or through participating agency Web sites.
Features of the Stewart ExpressQuote calculators include built-in geographical information to allow for unique state requirements, such as transfer taxes; access to a repository of all quotes generated within a one-year time period; and visual representation that shows exactly where the pricing is placed in the 2010 Good Faith Estimate.
Both Lender ExpressQuote and GFExpressQuote are powered by ""PropertyInfo Corporation"":http://www.propertyinfo.com, a Stewart company. PropertyInfo develops, supports, and distributes technology for the real estate and mortgage industries.