Providence Title Company of Texas Receives SOC 2 Type 1 Certification
April 5, 2016
HA&W LLP, a nationally-recognized tax, accounting and business consulting firm, announced that Providence Title Company of Texas, a multi-office title agency located in Texas, has received a Service Organizations Controls (SOC) 2 Type 1 report from the firm and is certified as compliant with ALTA’s Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices.
Providence Title chose to undergo SOC 2 testing and reporting to provide assurance to lenders across the country that the agency has the proper procedures and controls in place as it relates to privacy, security and risk management. In addition to SOC 2 requirements, controls designed for the SOC 2 report were structured to satisfy ALTA Best Practices test procedures through the AICPA Trust Service Principles of security, confidentiality, processing integrity, availability and privacy. To date, Providence Title has completed its SOC 2 Type 1 testing and is undergoing its observation period for its Type 2 report.
Providence Title’s SOC 2 testing and reporting was conducted by HA&W’s dedicated title industry services group, combining HA&W’s ComplianceSuccess Program with its Information Assurance Services disciplines. With multi-discipline expertise in the title industry, HA&W has expanded its current service offerings to agents, underwriters and lenders.
“Providence Title strives to be a leader in the title industry. As such, we recognized quickly the importance of compliance with ALTA Best Practices and chose to take our assurance up a notch by undergoing SOC 2 testing and reporting,” said John Kulasa, president of Providence Title. “HA&W showed us how we could approach this as a singular risk management program that fulfills our needs for ALTA Best Practices compliance, as well as the stringent security and privacy risk management requirements of banks and the CFPB.”
The testing and reporting conducted during a SOC 2 testing engagement goes above and beyond the requirements of ALTA Best Practices and is recommended for title agents who want to demonstrate the highest levels of assurance, according to HA&W.
“Providence Title is setting a strong example for title agents that take risk management seriously,” said said Lee Fields, managing director of HA&W’s Business Consulting Services. “They have elevated their security program from a compliance-based approach to an ongoing risk management program that protects the integrity of their business and keeps them ahead of the ever-changing threat environment."
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].