TAVMA Newsletter Summer 2009

Spring 2009 — TAVMA 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REBA Fails to Enforce its UPL Stance in Massachusetts . . . . . . .4

There are no Excuses for a Bad Corporate Web Site . . . . . . . .10

Working with the Trade Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

A Conversation with Kevin Gugenheim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

About TAVMA

Founded in 1998, TAVMA is a non-profit trade association tasked with enhancing publicawareness and promoting ethical conduct to settlement services industry vendors and serviceproviders. The Association acts as a forum for the exchange of vital information and presentsthe positions of its member companies to media, government, user groups and vendors.TAVMA member organizations are committed to promoting excellence and integrity whileadding customer and consumer value to the settlement process.

Find this and more at www.tavma.org

Is this litigation truly aboutviolating UPL statutes andcourt decisions or is it thebroader issue of defining areal estate closing?

Cover Story: REBA vs. NREIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

In this issue of the TAVMAnewsletter, we take an in-depthlook at one of TAVMA’s core is-

sues: the Unauthorized Practice of Law(UPL), and the proliferation of statutesand state bar association regulationsconcerning what constitutes the prac-tice of law in real estate settlements.UPL is an issue that the governmentaffairs committee and board of direc-tors have been working for more thana decade. In fact, one of the reasons thatTAVMA was formed back in 1998 wasto address this very issue. All this hardwork seems to be paying off.

e Real Estate Bar Association ofMassachusetts (REBA) was dealt a se-rious setback on April 13, 2009 whenFederal District Judge Tauro ruledagainst them and in favor of TAVMAmember National Real Estate Infor-mation Services (NREIS). elawsuit was brought by REBAas part of its “ongoing effort toprotect homeowners and put anend to non-lawyer conveyancingin Massachusetts”.

In granting NREIS motionfor Summary Judgment theCourt took issue with REBA’scontention that the law inMassachusetts has been well settledthat all phases of the real estate trans-action are the practice of law. JudgeTauro ruled that the law in Massa-chusetts did not support this con-tention and further that the positionof REBA requiring a Massachusetts’lawyer to handle the entire real estate

transaction violates the Dormant Pro-vision of the Commerce Clause of theUnited States Constitution.

Judge Tauro has subsequently deniedREBA’s motion for reconsiderationwhich is customary. NREIS has filed aMotion for Fees and Costs which hasbeen opposed by REBA. If NREIS issuccessful in this Motion, REBA wouldbe required to reimburse NREIS forpart or all of its fees and costs expendedwhich by the court records reflects thesignificant sum of $879,300. As of thisdate, the Judge has not ruled on thisclaim for reimbursement.

TAVMA lauds this Court’s decisionsince it was unwilling to accept the ar-gument put forward by the Bar Associ-ation in the several “attorney states” andit helps to promote the “level playingfield” of settlement services. Too oftenthe condemnation of non lawyer in-

volvement in the real estate services in-dustry is sounded in the name ofconsumer protection as it has been byREBA. e reality is that neitherREBA nor any other Bar Associationhas been able to establish a connectionbetween non lawyer involvement andconsumer harm or fraud.

TAVMA offers its congratulations toNREIS on its successful defense in thislitigation especially when the real issuecontinues to be the unwarranted at-tempt to protect the business interest of

professional groups. TAVMA isalso very pleased that the Courtdetermined that the UnitedStates Constitution is violatedby such protectionist practices.With this Federal Court deci-sion TAVMA is optimistic thatthe attorney restrictions in otherstates can be reviewed andhopefully dissolved.

I invite you to read our feature arti-cle on the UPL matter and share itwith your colleagues in the title insur-ance and settlement services industry.

You’ll find more information aboutTAVMA and our programs on theWeb, at www.tavma.org.

4 TAVMA — Spring 2009

By Jeff Schurman

REBA Fails to Enforce itsUPL Stance in Massachusetts

Leadersh ip

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Jeff Schurman

TAVMA lauds this Court’s decision sinceit was unwilling to accept the argumentput forward by the Bar Association inthe several “aorney states” and ithelps to promote the “level playing field”of selement services.

In February 2007, the Real Estate BarAssociation of the Commonwealthof Massachusetts (REBA) filed a

lawsuit against National Real EstateInformation Services (NREIS), a vendormanagement company located in Pitts-burgh. e lawsuit alleges that NREISengaged in the Unauthorized Practiceof Law (UPL) in Massachusetts by per-forming real estate closings in that stateusing non lawyers and or hiring lawyersto perform functions which constitutedUPL violations. Is this litigation trulyabout violating UPL statutes and courtdecisions or is it the broader issue ofdefining a real estate closing? is articlewill review this question by looking at thehistory of real estate transactions and therole of the attorney, as well as the evolv-ing environment of such transactionsin the twenty-first century.

REBA vs. NREISIn February 2007, REBA filed its

Amended Complaint (current litigation)in the Suffolk Superior Court in Massa-chusetts. e case was removed to theUnited States District Court for Massa-chusetts on February 6, 2007 upon mo-tion filed by NREIS that federaljurisdiction applies to the matters raised.e complaint alleges that NREIS hasviolated the standing law in the state byengaging in real estate conveyancing, atask reserved to Massachusetts licensedattorneys. NREIS denied the same andfiled a Counterclaim alleging that the al-legations of Plaintiff ’s complaint and in-terpretation of state law if enforcedconstitute a violation of the DormantCommerce Clause of the United StatesConstitution. e complaint alleges a vi-olation of state law and the counterclaim

alleges that such law if upheld violates theInterstate Commerce provisions of theU.S.Constitution such that no state shallerect barriers to interstate commerce.

In a recent Brief filed by NREIS, theissue of a “unitary theory”has been raised.According to NREIS, the position ofREBA is that it asserts that all of thefunctions of the real estate transaction area part of conveyancing and therefore asingle unitary act. It is this “unitary the-ory” that NREIS argues will bar inter-state commerce since absolutely nofunction of “conveyancing” can be per-formed by anyone other than a Massa-chusetts attorney. It is under this

argument that NREIS asserts that thedormant Commerce Clause is violated byMassachusetts law if the same is upheld.

REBA has argued in its rebuttal Briefthat the “unitary theory” is a “straw man”argument and has no basis in prior courtopinions. REBA points out that thephrase “unitary theory” is a creation ofNREIS and the use of this concept is inclear avoidance of the equally clear direc-tives by the courts that conveyancing inall functions constitutes the practice oflaw. REBA rebuts the unitary theory andstates that there is much precedence inMassachusetts court decisions that pro-hibits the management of legal functions


Cover Story

REBA vs. NREISA lawsuit about the UPL or is a closing the sum of all its parts?

REBA vs. NREIS

The lawsuit allegesthat NREIS engagedin the UnauthorizedPractice of Lawin Massachusettsby performingreal estate closingsin that state usingnon lawyers and orhiring lawyers toperform functionswhich constitutedUPL violations.

By Edward J. Krug, Esq.

by non lawyers such as the role of vendormanagers. Finally, it further argues thatno violation of the dormant CommerceClause has occurred under REBA’s viewin that no burden has been created on in-terstate commerce as a result of priorcourt decisions.

ough the case has proceededthrough discovery, part of which estab-lished that NREIS had performed 7000transactions in the state, there are cur-rently Motions for Summary Judgmentand Cross Motions for the same filed byeach party. In a fairly recent development,the Massachusetts Bar Association(MBA) has filed a Motion to present anAmicus Curiae Brief in support ofREBA’s Cross Motion for SummaryJudgment.e Motion states that it is fil-ing the same to provide the “Public’sView”of the nature of the lawsuit and thedanger of NREIS’practices upon the pub-lic of Massachusetts. It does appear to bea curious basis for filing the Motion inlight of the fact that the MBA purportsto represent a perspective, the public’s in-terest, not being represented by REBA.

If the Motions for Summary Judg-ment are not granted, the case will pro-ceed to trial in the next several months.Regardless of whether this case is de-cided by motion or at trial, the conse-quences of the decision will be historicand may redefine a real estate “closing”or conveyance and what part of the sameif any constitutes the “practice of law.”

The earlyreal estate closing industryIn order to evaluate the significance of

this case and the ultimate impact of thecourt decision, it is helpful to review thecurrent state of the real estate closing in-dustry, as well as its history.

From the birth of this nation, real es-tate conveyancing has been rooted in thetraditions and guidance of English Com-mon Law. Almost all states adopted con-stitutions based upon the principles ofEnglish Common Law with Louisianabeing the notable exception with its

Napoleonic Code. ese state constitu-tions in many cases defined the practiceof law and the requirements to be amember of the Bar of such state. eywould further define certain actions asbeing within the definition of the Prac-tice of Law. In some states, terms such as“performing abstractsof title” and “con-veyancing” were usedto describe some ofthese activities. Fromthe late 18th centuryand for over 100years beyond, courtswould enforce certainactivities as reservedto only those trainedin the law, namely attorneys. Eventually,based upon these centuries-old concepts,the “unauthorized practice of law” be-came the subject of many state statutesand court decisions.

For over 150 years, the handling of areal estate transaction was performed by alicensed attorney in that particular state.Titles were searched in the counties ortowns where the appropriate public prop-erty records were maintained typically bythe attorneys themselves or by “abstractors”who performed the searches for the attor-ney. A local bank would make the mort-gage loan and the local attorney wouldcomplete the transaction by drafting thelegal documents, examining the title andproviding an opinion of the same and han-dling the settlement which was the execu-tion of the documents and disbursementof the proceeds. In certain areas of thecountry, scriveners and abstractors, bothnon lawyers, would be utilized in some ofthese functions. According to Ladner onConveyancing in Pennsylvania, this be-came the common practice in Philadelphiacirca 1870. It might be noted that the titleinsurance industry was born at this timeand also in this locality.

rough much of the 20th century thisremained the common activity of local at-torneys. After World War II and the dra-matic growth of the residential real estate

industry, the majority of home purchaseswere financed through transactions han-dled by attorneys. Even when this authorcommenced the practice of law in the early1970’s the absolute majority of real estatetransactions were handled by attorneysand especially those who enjoyed some

form of exclusive rela-tionship with thelocal bank or buildingand loan. In the late70’s and the boom pe-riod of the next threedecades the residen-tial real estate indus-try changed radicallywith the emergenceof the secondary mar-

ket with such participants as FNMA andFHLMC. It also signaled a significantrise in title insurance agents many ofwhich became independent non-attorneytitle insurance agents many of which be-came multi-state licensed agents such asvendor management companies (“VMCs”).

The emergence of the“One Stop” providers oftitle and closing services

ough some of these “one stop”shopscan trace their origins to the late 60’s andearly 70’s when services were provided toattorneys and finance companies, the ma-jority developed in the early 80’s. Nolonger were the several functions per-formed in real estate conveyancing han-dled by one individual but now the variousfunctions were segmented and completedin an assembly line process. Vendors werehired as independent contractors toperform appraisals, title searches, taxcertifications and the actual settlement.Additional former back office lender func-tions such as flood reports were added tothe process. e VMCs would “manage”these various functions while, as a title in-surance agent, retaining the ultimate re-sponsibility for examining the abstract andissuing the title commitments and policies.Many VMCs operate in several states and


continued on page 8

The consequencesof the decision willbe historic andmay redefine areal estate “closing”or conveyance.

therefore offer their services to multi-statelenders as a one stop solution geared to-wards speed and uniformity in processesand pricing.

Mortgage lending moved from thelocal banks and building and loans to largenational mortgage companies who oper-ated in all 50 states utilizing centralizedprocessing. e major shift in lendingpractices needed a partner who also oper-ated on the same principles of a central-ized platform and hence the VMCs filledthat role. Vendor management compa-nies would operate a single platform ofsegmented services and uniformly provideservices in the same fashion from state tostate, except for the so called “attorneystates” where the role and function of astate licensed attorney required “variationson a theme”.

The inevitable collisionbetween attorneys and vendormanagement companies

As the residential mortgage industrygrew and consolidated from the mid 80’son,vendor management companies grewproportionately to meet the demands ofthe new central processing theme. In anattempt to provide uniform services on amulti-state platform VMCs encounteredresistance in several attorney states mostnotably in the southeast and northeast.

e essence of vendor management isto break the real estate closing processinto several “pieces” and to outsourcethose pieces to vendors whose serviceswould then be managed. ese “pieces”would include appraisals, tile searches, taxsearches, title clearance and actual settle-ments or closings. In the process of amortgage refinance transaction this seg-mentation could create a very efficientwork flow. e purchase could also adaptto this type of segmentation but thenumber of additional parties involved, aswell as the control of the transaction, ledto a more cumbersome process.

Although the title search or abstract isperformed almost exclusively by inde-

pendent non attorneys, the definition ofthe practice of law in several states forceda closer attorney management or supervi-sion of this task. In North Carolina, anattorney must examine the title search andsupervise the title opinion. In South Car-olina, the role of the attorney in supervis-ing not only the search but also theopinion of title is much more compre-hensive. In these states vendor manage-ment companies would have to makechanges in their processes to accommo-date these requirements. An attorneywould have to be hired to perform someof the functions performed internally invendor management. Some companiesfailed to comply with attorney state re-strictions which led to UPL complaintsbeing lodged against them, followed by“cease and desist”orders.

VMCs, which stressed the one stopaspect of their business with an emphasison turn times and pricing, have struggledto adapt to these attorney state restric-tions. As the incidents of violations grew,and complaints about the competitionrose from the real estate attorneys, thestate bar associations became more ag-gressive in their efforts to confront thevendor management practices. In NorthCarolina, the outside company would becharged with the unauthorized practice oflaw. In South Carolina, the individualmembers of the bar who participated with

VMCs would face disciplinary actionthereby making it more difficult to recruitattorneys for any of the outsource func-tions. Currently a handful of states haveattorney restrictions on the real estatetransaction forcing VMCs to modifytheir involvement and in some cases ceasedoing business in that particular state.

Is this conflict about the law oreconomic competition?

e argument rages in each statewhere the UPL issues exist in real estatetransactions. e Bar Associations saythat the issue is quite simple - the adviceand counsel required in a real estatetransaction demand that a licensed at-torney in that state provide the same.e VMC responds that it is really anissue of the Bar protecting its turf andblocking competition.

In those states where attorney involve-ment is mandated, are the laws of thatstate involving real estate ownership or fi-nancing of such a nature that an attorneymust be consulted? It is doubtful that anyof these states have statutes, customs, orpractices that truly demand that an attor-ney be involved as counsel in order to in-terpret the law or protect the consumer,asis often argued. Due to the standardiza-tion of documentation used in the sec-ondary market, it is highly doubtful thatan attorney’s involvement would protectthe consumer’s interest. is is not to sug-gest that the real estate client would neverneed to consult with an attorney, since infact many transactions contain complexi-ties that attorney involvement is quiteprudent. With about 85% of the nation’sstates not requiring an attorney’s involve-ment and with mortgage financing hav-ing become standardized, it is hard toimagine that the continuing state man-date for an attorney’s involvement is notsome form of protectionism. at havingbeen said, however, many states do con-tinue to enforce age old requirements forattorney involvement and it is clearly thelaw in those estates, whether egregious ornot to vendor management.


continued from page 7

Cover Story


What is a closing…….Doesthe answer to that shed light

on the controversy?In 2002 at a hearing before a special

committee of the North Carolina BarAssociation held in Raleigh, it becamerather apparent that the North Carolinaattorney and the vendor managementcompanies saw the term “closing” muchdifferently. At that hearing members ofTAVMA testified in favor of permittinglay or non attorney closers in NorthCarolina. Naturally members of the RealProperty section of the state bar vigorouslyopposed the non-attorney proposal. Dur-ing that testimony at which this authorparticipated, it became readily apparentthat vendor management’s use of the term“closing”differed significantly from that ofthe members of the Real Property Bar.Rather than a segmented event at whichall of the parties to the transaction exe-cuted documentation, the members of thebar viewed the “closing” as a comprehen-sive set of tasks. ey testified that a clos-ing is the entire process from the initiationof the title search order right on throughthe execution of the documents. ey

stated that if a client requested that theyperform a closing for a particular real estatetransaction that necessarily meant thatthey would order the title search, examinethe same, perform all title clearance activ-ities, prepare all documentation and finallyhold the settlement. Accordingly they be-lieved that permitting non attorney clos-ings meant that the entire process wouldor could be handled by a non attorney.ere are those in the vendor managementindustry that argue that such an inter-pretation is merely a convenient way ofrestricting all non attorney involvement.

Does REBA believe thatthe closing is indeed thesum of all its parts?

It may be a total over simplification tostate that the litigation between REBAand NREIS is really about “wha is a clos-ing?”. If one reads the authority forREBA’s position echoed in the ColonialDecision or the Opinion of the Justiceshowever, it appears that the courts neverenvisioned that a real estate transactioncould be segmented into so many partsand yet be performed correctly without

jeopardizing the lender or borrower’s in-terest. eir references to the transactionare comprehensive and generally sur-round the issuance of a legal opinion asto the status of the title.

In the 21st century, vendor manage-ment has broken the real estate transac-tion into many pieces in a way nevercontemplated by the Constitutions,Statutes or court decisions of these manystates. Vendor management has createdan assembly line process utilizing out-source vendors to provide services. By sodoing, they have standardized a series oftasks that were once held sacred by themembers of the Bar. As the financing ofreal state transactions exploded in volumein the last 30 years, vendor managementresponded to the demand from state tostate in a uniform manner.Most states donot require the use of attorneys to closeloans, and there has been a distinctlack of allegations indicating adverseimpacts upon consumers,based upon thenon-attorney closings in those states. �

Just before this issue went to press, the Court handeddown a judgment in favor of NREIS.e Court rejected

REBA’s theory of the practice of law, calling it a “novelconstruction of the practice of law as encompassing all theinterconnected steps of a real estate conveyance.”

e Court also rejected REBA’s unsupported and“conclusory allegation”that the attorneys engaged to at-tend residential real estate closings are “mere notaries,”and explicitly held that the issuance of title insurance, asan agent of an insurance underwriter, does not consti-tute the practice of law in Massachusetts.

e Court also found that REBA’s theory of con-veyancing as the practice of law violated the DormantCommerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and wastherefore unconstitutional.

In addition, the Court found that REBA’s “overbroaddefinition” of the practice of law would likely drive upexpenses for consumers engaging in residential realestate transactions and “‘deprive[ ] the citizens of

[Massachusetts] of any benefits arising from competition.’”Accordingly, the Court held that: NREIS is entitled

to a declaratory judgment that REBA’s interpretation ofthe practice of law as encompassing all the interconnectedsteps of a real estate conveyance violates the DormantCommerce Clause. Because NREIS has satisfied the re-quirements for a permanent injunction, NREIS is alsoentitled to an order enjoining REBA from enforcing itsconstruction of the practice of law. NREIS has prevailedon the merits. NREIS would suffer severe economichardships if REBA were able to enforce its interpretationof the practice of law so as to preclude NREIS from per-forming real estate conveyancing and title insurance serv-ices in Massachusetts. NREIS’s economic hardshipswould outweigh any harm that REBA would suffer inbeing precluded from enforcing its overbroad interpreta-tion of the practice of law. And the public interest wouldbe best served by preserving competition in the marketsfor real estate conveyancing and title insurance services.

Court Case Update

Edward J. Krug, Esq. is withCommercial Loan Services, LLC,MoonTownship, PA

When talking about marketingcommunications, some tendto focus on the direct options,

like mailers or e-mails. Others focus onpublic relations and social media(LinkedIn,Twitter, Facebook).

When it comes to new business,how-ever, there’s no easier—or more funda-mental—way to dot your corporate “I’sand cross your corporate “T”s than havingan effective corporate Web site. If yourURL is not your prospect’s firstimpression of your business, itprobably is the first place he orshe will go to kick the tires afteryou’ve delivered your pitch.

You wouldn’t walk the ex-hibit floor at a conference wear-ing sweatpants and sandals.You wouldn’t refer a prospect to yourmost disgruntled former customer. Sowhy would you send that prospect to aWeb site that isn’t professional? No timeto do it right? Too expensive? Can’t getaround to it? Too much “real” businessto attend to?

Below are a few of the commonmyths preventing too many good com-panies from having good Web sites. Asyou’ll see, there’s really no excuse for fail-ing to upgrade the face of your businesson the Internet.

Web design costs too much andtakes way too much time.

is is often true if you expect a state-of-the-art, e-commerce engine in twoweeks time. e best sites can run above

and beyond $20,000 when you includenothing but the latest design and the fan-ciest tricks and have a national designagency doing the work.

But does your business really need allof that to maintain a professional and ef-fective appearance?

What do you want your prospectsand customers to get from your Website? Do you want them to place ordersthere? Do you want them to learn aboutyour products and people there? All ofthe above? It may seem simple, but this

may be the most challenging element ofthe project. What will the function ofyour Web site be?

Now, it’s time to pull together the de-sign… the “look and feel.”ere are manyaffordable agencies or even free-lance de-signers who can put together a solid site ata fraction of the cost you expect.Be aware,however,that virtually every freelancer be-lieves he or she can design a Web site.Many of them,in reality,can’t. Be sure youvet them carefully. Look at past work. Askhow much input the client or other ven-dors had in the design. Have your poten-tial designer explain the look andfunctionality of previous work, and how ittied into the client’s goals. You may evenwant to hire a reputable Web design ormarketing expert to help you review your

potential designers. By the way, if you arenot having your own development teambuild the “back end” of the site (the pro-gramming that makes the design a realityon your URL), make sure your designercan. If you are leaving the back-end toyour team, be sure you have a key teammember corresponding with the designerfrom the start. You really don’t want a de-sign or function that can’t be brought tolife on your URL for technical reasons.

Once you have your plan and yourdesigner, it is time to populate your site

with award-winning copy. Al-though it sounds easy enough,do not fall into the trap ofdoing it yourself, unless you’vewritten Web copy before…anddone it well. Why? Even ex-perienced copy writers canstruggle with Web copy. For

whatever reason, the human eye andbrain get lazier when they come acrossWeb text. at means you need themost concise, powerful verbiage possible.Bad copy can drive away good prospects.Once a person views a bad, boring orconfusing Web site, he or she is very un-likely to go back there again. Ever.

If your designer claims he or shehas people or can even write it him-self/herself, go through another vettingprocess. Good layout and imagery willfade quickly if your language says noth-ing or means nothing to your viewers.Remember, a bad first impression willbe your last.

Now,and only now,are you ready for atimeline. Your designer and copywritershould be able to help you with this. Hold


By Brian Rieger

There are no Excuses for aBad Corporate Web Site

A good URL doesn’t always have to blink, flash or hum.It just has to say something.

Market ing

There are no Excuses for aBad Corporate Web Site

their feet to the fire, but be realistic. Justas you won’t (generally) be able to turn afull title search in 2 hours,a complex Website will not be “live” in two weeks.

Nobody in this industry reallychecks out Web sites. It’s allabout relationships and thequality of my sales people.

Maybe. Maybe not. But the industryis changing quickly and dramatically.ere is still likely a wave of change com-ing. Your customers today may or maynot be your customers tomorrow. A Website can help future customers find you,even before your sales team is out therelooking for them. And you would be sur-prised how many of your existing cus-tomers need to check your Web siteoccasionally for information. A bad oruseless site can improve,or harm,your re-lationship even with existing customers.

ere is no doubt that relationshipsand direct sales strate-gies will always have acritical place in themortgage industry.But just as you would-n’t send a sloppy salesperson out to meet anew prospect, you re-ally don’t want to havea sloppy Web site wait-ing to greet that prospecteither. So, what makes for asloppy Web site?

Boilerplate copy: Makesure your text says somethingthat means something. It shouldbe clear, concise and say somethingyour competitors’ sites don’t. Stay awayfrom the clichés. ey make your copyseem less credible. Don’t just talk aboutyour customer service. Describe whatmakes it different!

Bland or cliché stock images: emodels in business suits shaking handsover a laptop really don’t say anythingabout your business other than that youhaven’t taken the time to think throughyour Web design. If you can’t find photo-

graphs that differentiate your company,use icons or abstract images. Nothing says“me too”like overused stock photography.

Typos,bad grammar,poor copy or badfunctionality: Links should work. E-mails should go somewhere. And some-one—in fact,many people—should proofyour site. You wouldn’t reply to an RFPin broken or casual language. You don’t(hopefully) send sales letters that aren’twell-written. Your Web site representsyou to people you may not even know yet.Make sure you’re well-represented.

I can’t afford to have flashyimagery and wouldn’t evenknow where to begin withvideos, podcasts, etc.

en don’t. ere are plenty of profes-sional and effective corporate Web sites inthe industry that don’t blink,flash or makenoise; don’t show first-run videos anddon’t require Adobe Flash Player Version

14.0. e flashy

stuff can be nice, but stay within yourselfand your budget. You’re seeking new salesor better brand awareness, not a creativeaward. With that in mind:

Don’t have a blog or corporate newsrelease section unless you plan to keepthese updated—frequently—with con-tent that will be of value to the viewer (notto your marketing VP, but your viewer).Outdated news or blog sections are worsethan having none at all, and make your

company look out-of-date or, worse, sooverwhelmed and understaffed that it hasno time to maintain its Web site.

Don’t go for incredibly flashy applica-tions unless you are sure the majority ofyour viewers will be able to view them. Ifyou do use something cutting edge, makesure it doesn’t take the viewer’s attentionaway from the key message. Give themthe option of skipping the 45-second intro.Let them turn off the theme song toMiami Vice that plays in the background.A short, well-produced video can supportyour message effectively. A short, well-produced video that says nothing is a wasteof time. In other words,don’t use the techtricks just to have them.

Don’t make your site any bigger thanit needs to be. If you’re only looking toprovide the corporate basics, your viewershouldn’t have to click ten times to get tothe information necessary. Keep thecopy lean, the functionality simple andthe look professional.

ere are a number of small businessesin the mortgage industryusing their Web sites effec-tively without funding fancyagencies to do so. Like anypiece of marketing material,keep it professional,keep it tiedto your marketing goals andbrand, and keep it lean. Withcompetition getting tighter, youcan’t afford not to.

About the authorBrian Rieger is the principal of

True Impact Communications(www.trueimpactcommunications.com),a full-service marketing and publicrelations agency serving the mortgageand settlement services industry. He hasserved as a trusted advisor to large andsmall firms in the industry for sevenyears. Brian was also the Vice Presidentof Seminars and Studies at publisherOctober Research Corporation forfive years. You can contact Brian at(330) 348-1678, or at [email protected].


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For any company that sells its prod-ucts or services primarily to otherbusinesses,working with the trade

press is vital to long term success. Whilemany executives are uncomfortablereaching out to reporters and editors, agood understanding of their work is es-sential, whether media relations is dele-gated to an internal team or outsourcedto an outside service provider.

Spending more than a decade as atrade press reporter and editor, I can tellyou how these companies generally op-erate, what their typical needs are andbest practices for getting more coveragefor your company.

Differences between the tradesand the mainstream press

Over the years, I have encounteredmany executives who hold a low opin-ion of the trade press and the media ingeneral, discounting its benefit to theirorganization.Top 10 US banks are par-ticularly wary of the press and prefer tobe quoted directly from their SEC fil-ings, if at all. But for the majority ofbusinesses that earn revenue from serv-ing the larger firms within an industry,the trade press is perhaps the most ef-fective way of coming to the attentionof qualified prospects.

Companies that want to succeed todayare largely of the opinion that “any pressis good press.”ey are right! While thatcan be a dangerous attitude when dealingwith the mainstream media, in the tradepress, where publishers live by selling ad-vertising and other services back to theirreaders, it’s not really as risky. In fact, inmy experience, companies intent on ris-ing to the top of their industries must fos-ter strong relationships with reporters andeditors in the trade press.ose that don’twill be at a competitive disadvantage.

I don’t mean to suggest that the trade

press will never publish a negative storyabout a company. It certainly happens.Web-based publications, in general, tendto be more dangerous here because theyhave lower overhead and can afford totake risks with their readership and ad-vertising base. But if a company has agood story to tell, the trades will be farmore likely to consider it at face valuethan the mainstream media will.

In addition, since the trade press existsspecifically to serve the needs of the in-dustry, they will be much more likely tocover news from a firm competing intheir space than the mainstream press.During good times, when ad sales are upit can be very easy to get good storiespublished about a company.When timesare lean, it becomes more difficult, buteven then publishers are looking for newways to generate revenue, and that canopen up new avenues of promotion forcompanies that have a relationship withthe publication’s personnel.

And that’s really the key to making agood trade press PR effort work, hav-ing good relationships with thepeople who work in thesecompanies. e keys tobuilding these goodrelationships are firstknowing how thetrades work and sec-ond building a ma-chine that makes iteasy for you to stay in touch with theseimportant target publications.

The people who makethe trade press work

One of the first lessons that a freelancewriter learns about his business is thatpublication editors are very busy peopleand they get very annoyed when they aredisturbed for something that cannot ben-efit them in their work. I always thoughtthat was a crude generalization, but afterworking in the trades for many years and

eventually becoming one of those editors,I realized that the myth was grounded insolid reality. Building a good relationshipwith these folk requires an understandingof who these people are and the job theyare trying to do.

Many professional journalists are ofthe opinion that working in the trades isonly one step above writing for the localpaper. at’s not fair, of course. Somelocal papers are really great. And so arethe best trades.Like community newspa-pers, the trades cater to a well-defined au-dience of readers who all share a commonset of characteristics and have many ofthe same information needs. Instead ofgeography, trade publication readers share

a common industry.Reporters and editors that cover the

trades for the most part are dedicated pro-fessionals that have spent many years un-derstanding how an industry works andwho the key people are that keep it work-ing. Generally, they don’t know this fromactual work experience within that indus-try. ey get this information from expe-rience attending industry events,workingwith public relations firms and from con-versations with executives working in thebusiness.e best reporters I have worked


By Rick Grant

Working with the Trade Press

New Med ia

Working with the Trade Press


with were on the phone with someonefrom their industry most of each day.

Writers that work for big, glossy con-sumer publications can pretty much writeanything that strikes their fancy and onlya fraction of their audience will ever ques-tion their conclusions. We were allshocked to learn that a reporter for theNew York Times, the country’s self-pro-claimed journal of record, was just mak-ing things up for that paper.at doesn’thappen in the trade press because toomany people know what’s going on intheir industry. It’s their business to know.

is means that reporters and editorshave to work harder in the trades to earntheir reputations.Lying to a trade reporterto get your story published will work ex-actly once.ese professionals simply can’tafford to make mistakes that will jeopard-ize their status.Errors occur,certainly,andcorrections or retractions are printed. But

when the mistake comes from bad infor-mation from a source, that company is nolonger considered a source and the cover-age they enjoy comes to an end.

Making matters more difficult forthese reporters is that they rarely start offin the industry they eventually specializein. e risk is that a reporter will bringtoo many lessons learned from a previousindustry to his reporting, making mis-takes because things are not done thesame way in the new industry. Reportersare forced to start with a clean slate andlearn everything again if they hope to re-port the news accurately and intelligentlyfor their new readership.

Reporter’s primary goal: learnthe industry

Working among other reporters is agreat way to learn and many great lessonsare shared that way, but ultimately every

reporter has to reach out to industry ex-perts to get the lay of the land. When Istarted writing about mortgage technol-ogy, my goal to was to talk on the phonewith two industry experts every day.Many days I exceeded that goal.e vastmajority of what I learned never made itonto the page for any of the publicationsI worked for, at least not right away. Butover time, I learned my industry from thepeople working there who were willing tovisit with me. ose people became myprimary sources and many remain myfriends to this day.

So how do you work effectively withthe trade press? Drop your friendlyneighborhood trade industry reporter aline and tell them the truth, about yourcompany, your offerings and the industryfrom your perspective. ey’ll appreciateit and you’ll be on your way to building agreat relationship. �


Q & A

Q:How did you get into this business?

A: I started out in wholesale lending with North AmericanMortgage in 1985, and over the next 15 years had managementpositions in retail lending, secondary marketing & servicing. Igot into the title side of the business when I joined Stewart Titleas President of their Lender Services group in January, 2000.

Q:When did you come overto ServiceLink?

A: I came over in October of 2007.

Q:It sounds like you’ve had quite acareer in the industry.

A: I’ve been lucky enough to be given many different op-portunities on the lending side of the house. When I jumpedover to the title and settlement side, it helped that I knew thelenders’ side of the business. I think that this lender perspectivereally helps our company better partner with our customers.

Q:What do you think is thebest part of your job now?

A: I work with many different departments at ServiceLink anda very broad base of customers and business lines. Most of theareas that I am involved with in our company are focused on bothshort & long-term growth. I think that’s number one. Numbertwo would be the good friends and people that I’ve met in thisbusiness. It’s a competitive business but I have found everyone tobe very friendly and willing to help each other in any way possibleand I have many very good personal friends in our industry.

Q:Most of our readers know aboutServiceLink, but can you could

give us an overview of the company.

A: ServiceLink is a leading provider of origination anddefault services and is the national mortgage services platformfor the Fidelity National Financial family of companies.ServiceLink was acquired by FNF in August, 2005 and we

About Kevin Gugenheim

Kevin Gugenheim, Executive VicePresident and Chief Strategic OfficerMr. Gugenheim is responsible forthe management of ServiceLink’sBusiness Development, Marketing,Product Development, Legal, &Human Resources teams. Prior tojoining ServiceLink, Mr. Gugenheimspent seven years with StewartTitle Company, most recently asPresident and Chief OperatingOfficer of Stewart Lender Services,Inc. He began his career in 1985 inmortgage lending and has a deepknowledge of retail and wholesaleorigination, as well as secondarymarketing and servicing operations.

[email protected]

A Conversation with Kevin GugenheimA Conversation with Kevin Gugenheim


subsequently acquired ATM Corporation in August, 2007.We offer a complete suite of title, settlement, appraisal, de-fault and asset management related products and services.Our technology group really makes us unique among mostvender management companies. We have built a large num-ber of joint venture settlement service companies over theyears that are all operating on our proprietary, industry lead-ing technology, Vision. We have operation centers inPittsburgh, Denver, California, Texas and Kansas City.

Q:I know that a lot of folks aroundthe industry are still suffering through

the downturn. From your perspective, what isthe most important obstacle that theindustry must overcome in order to geteveryone back on track?

A: A few things…. First, claims that were caused by certaintitle companies and agents cutting corners and doing work fortheir customers who were demanding “faster, cheaper, quicker”back in the prior refinance boom. ere were a lot of incom-plete title searches and, as a result, the title industry now has ahuge number of claims that is pressuring earnings. is has re-cently changed, however, as there is now a much greater focuson the quality of the deal by all participants in the lending cycleand I expect we will see this claims problem correct itself in thecoming months and years.

Additionally, customer and business diversification is crit-ical – we have seen industry consolidation like never beforeand too much concentration among too few customers or toofew business lines can be a challenge.

Lastly, partnering with the right underwriter is very im-portant. Several of the larger underwriters have significantinvestments in technology, title plants andsupport services that can help both their di-rect operations and agents realize a signifi-cant reduction in cost of goods as well asenhance their productivity costs. From theServiceLink perspective, we operate as a di-vision of the underwriters within the FNFfamily and we are blessed to be based inPittsburgh, where we have a very experiencedand affordable workforce. Both of these factors allow us tooperate very efficiently.

Q:Is there anything TAVMA memberscan do to help ensure that theysurvive the downturn, but also helptheir customers?

A: TAVMA has always done a pretty good job of havingconferences and good panels that share best practices forthose vendor management companies and other TAVMAmembers that have found a way to survive and/or thrive inthese tough times. All of our members are more thanwilling to help each other, which I believe is fundamental toany good trade association.

On the valuation side, one of the biggest challenges—andwe’re all seeing this,particularly in light of the HVCC—is thatwe’re under attack for what we do and how we do it.ere is aperception that the work we do as appraisal management com-panies doesn’t contribute any value.We all know that our workbrings value.e perception is that we’re just using unqualifiedappraisers and we exist to mark up fees. I think we have to workto bring some public awareness to the value that we bring in.

We handle the additional steps required for effective qualitycontrol and ensure efficiency through the investments we’ve allmade in the vendor management and appraisal managementbusinesses.Our technology has given us the ability to automatethe quality control process and that allows our lender partnersto remove costs from their own operations.Again, that’s thanksto the investments that we’ve made to ensure quality work,bothin our professional staff and in our technology platforms.athas brought huge value to the industry.

Q:What else should our readers be think-ing about now?

A: ere’s a continued dominance of the market by thelarger lenders, who are driving the policies and proceduresthat often dictate how their vendors work. We’ve seen thatnow with HVCC, where local lenders are now less able todirect how they want to do appraisal work. We’re also seeing

with the refinance cycle that the larger banksare really the ones that are driving much ofthe refinance volume. Consequently, it’s im-portant for companies to think about demo-graphics and continue to squeeze costs out oftheir systems.

My advice is that vendor managers keep abroad diversity of customers.ere are a hugenumber of local and regional lenders that are

important business partners, but companies should alsoestablish relationships with the top 20 lenders and servicers.ese larger companies are driving a lot business and needstrong vendor partners to help them achieve their lendingand servicing objectives. I also think a diversification intoserving the default title, closing and valuation space is anatural opportunity for many of our members who are onlyworking on the origination side. �

There is now amuch greaterfocus on thequality of the deal.

TAVMA Newsletter Summer 2009

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Transcript of TAVMA Newsletter Summer 2009