Picture this: I walk into a title agency owned by a known and respected real estate attorney who has a reputation for going above and beyond for his clients. Because of his stellar reputation in the title industry, I expect to walk in and see a well-oiled machine at work. Instead, I spend a substantial amount of time observing three employees caught in a time loop reminiscent of Abbott & Costello’s “Who's on First?" If you are not familiar with this comedy oldie, you should watch the youtube video below.
As I stood in the office, I watched the first employee turn to the second and ask, “Hey, did you receive the association estoppel for property XYZ?” The second employee paused and asked, “What’s the file number?” The first employee went back to his computer to search for the file number and responded, “The file number is 123." I watched the second employee sift through emails and scour his computer for a solid five minutes. Despite the effort, he came up empty. The first employee returned to his computer and continued searching for another five minutes. With a frustrated look on his face, the first employee turned to the third employee and posed the same question. The third employee then asked, “What’s the property address?” Another five minutes went by as the third employee conducted a similarly fruitless search. Eventually, all three were simultaneously searching their emails for another few minutes. In the end, none of the three employees found what they were searching for and two managed to lose track of what they were previously working on before they were interrupted.
Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common, and it’s safe to say that what I witnessed was not an isolated incident at this agency. Assuming these occurrences happen once or twice a day, the amount of time expended with no results can easily add up to hours during the course of closing a transaction.
Now imagine if this title agency had a trackable title processing system in place. The receipt of an association estoppel would have been marked off as received, and a copy of the estoppel would have been added to a designated folder. In this scenario, there is no need to ask a team member to stop what they are doing and begin a time-consuming search because when team members can rely on the consistency of title processing steps being carried out in the same manner on all transactions, an environment of certainty is created as each team member knows exactly where the answers to their questions can be found.
My experience serves as a stark reminder of the inefficiencies that can plague even some of the best title agencies in our industry. Unless title agency owners are happy to see their employees lose time to the game of "who's on first," they should consider helping their teams establish order and consistency by implementing a trackable title processing system.
Claudette Espendez is a specialized title industry consultant. Her dedication to each of her client's success and her ability to identify areas for improvement and provide step-by-step practical solutions has made her a sought-after resource among real estate attorneys and title agents looking to elevate their title agencies to the next level. Inquiries may be sent to info@titleteampros.com.
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