Title Company Partners in Effort to Sell REOs
March 8, 2012
New York-based Closing USA will provide title and closing services for the National Association of Real Estate Brokers’ Homeowner’s Assurance Program, a national public-private program designed to help reverse the effects of the mortgage crisis in 25 cities, by buying, repairing and reselling properties currently owned by HUD and other financial services institutions.
Closing USA has been chosen by 24 Asset Management Corporation to provide title and closing services as part of an effort to make the dream of homeownership more accessible by rehabilitating and putting families into more than $1.2 billion in HUD and bank-owned properties (REOs) through the recently announced national Homeowner’s Assurance Program (HAP).
“Closing USA’s REO Title and Closing Services will make the disposition of these REO assets simple, seamless, and certain,” said Elliot Foo, Closing USA president and CEO. “Through our national closing network, our associates will manage every step of the process, from contract to close.”
Closing USA is a minority-certified title and escrow company licensed in 35 states. The Homeowner’s Assurance Program is a public-private partnership between 24 Asset Management Corporation and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. (NAREB). Through the HAP program, NAREB’s partners are acquiring REO homes from HUD and other lenders, then renovating and marketing them at competitive prices.
Foo said that NAREB real estate agents are the spark plugs for the program, driving first-time buyers and others who have been sitting on the sidelines to the sales process, and once a contract is in place, Closing USA will manage the transactions in 25 markets.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be part of this initiative, which will absolutely breath new life into communities across the country,” Foo said. “Having historic numbers of bank-owned properties isn’t good for anyone, and the innovative HAP model of buying, renovating properties and providing access to mortgages for people with less than ideal credit will bring homeownership within reach of many for whom it has been just a dream. All of which should spark a real estate renaissance in these communities, and in the process, turn these REO houses back into homes.”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.