REALCredit™ has saved homebuyers $18 million over the years.
Federal Title & Escrow Company, through its REALCredit™ program, offers homebuyers a substantial credit to reduce their closing costs. Homebuyers will receive a credit simply by ordering settlement services online.
We are able to provide this credit because we are an independent title company. This means we do not share our profits with referral sources through Affiliated Business Arrangements (ABA) or Marketing Service Agreements (MSA). Because of this, we are able to pass along the savings to our clients. That boils down to an average cost savings of up to $750 per client.
The following sets forth the terms & conditions by which a homebuyer may qualify and receive the REALCredit™:
FTE reserves the right and has sole discretion to alter, from time to time, the herein stated terms & conditions as well as the credit amounts.
Years ago we made a bold move by shunning all Affiliated Business Arrangements (a.k.a., ABAs, joint ventures, or legal kickbacks) and Marketing Service Agreements. Since we no longer have to share our profits with referral sources (i.e., executives and brokers of large real estate firms), we decided the money made from those arrangements should go to the homebuyer.
Sometimes, several businesses that offer settlement services are owned or controlled by a common corporate parent. These businesses are known as “affiliates,” while the relationship is called an “Affiliated Business Arrangement” or “ABA” for short. When a lender, real estate broker, or other participant in your settlement refers you to an affiliate for a settlement service (such as when a real estate broker refers you to a mortgage broker affiliate), the law requires the referring party to give you an Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure.
This form will remind you that you are generally not required, with certain exceptions, to use the affiliate and are free to shop for other providers.
In the end, ABAs wind up costing the consumer more money. This is because the referring party usually receives a reward for keeping the transaction in the family, so to speak. The referral fee is covered by the cost of the transaction, meaning the consumer foots the bill. Are you overpaying for settlement services? Find out with a free online quote.
You must order settlement services online from our website. THAT’S IT! By you entering the information online, you save us a lot of time and effort in tracking it all down, and we reward your efforts in the form of a RealCredit™ to your homebuyer.
Yes. Claims that the RealCredit™ violates anti-rebating laws is simply false. Our REALCredit™ has been approved by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia insurance commissions and is compliant with Florida regulations, too. Most recently, the District of Columbia’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking issued a Bulletin that approves of the REALCredit™ stating that a title insurance producer may offer a discount or credit “for actions that improve the efficiency of the settlement transaction, such as applying electronically.”
Nope. Homebuyers may work with the lender and agent of their choosing and still receive the RealCredit™.
Not a chance. We do not inflate fees to cover the RealCredit™. In fact, take a look at this fee comparison study among DC Metro Area title companies, and see that Federal Title ranks among the lowest in settlement fees, thanks in part to our RealCredit™.
Our Web-enabled proprietary software, the Automated Quote Generator (AQG), produces the exact costs of closing once the user has entered the required information: purchase price, loan amounts, property jurisdiction, etc.
In turn, the AQG delivers an instant, online, guaranteed cost quote to you and your homebuyer. Other advantages:
With your help entering the details of your real estate transaction through the online order form, you save us a lot in terms of overhead. It takes fewer people to track down information and we reward the efforts with our RealCredit™.
Federal Title is a forward-thinking company. We believe in helping other people thrive. We recognize consumer-driven market pressures, as exemplified by HUD’s recent changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act (RESPA) that aim to bring more transparency to the title industry, and we seek to offer your homebuyer substantial savings combined with a streamlined closing process.
The Real Credit™ is an absolute TRUE credit to the homebuyer. Unlike many of our competitors with similar credit incentive programs, we do not inflate our customary settlement fees and title insurance premiums to offset the credit.
Furthermore, Federal Title gives all homebuyers a clear choice between the standard (less expensive title policy) and the enhanced title insurance policy. Many of our competitors issue the enhanced coverage without giving homebuyers a choice.
Read our FEW and SIMPLE conditions and restrictions. They are as follows:
Saving time is saving money. The more time that we save in data retrieval/input, the more savings we can pass along to your homebuyer. Therefore, we require you or your homebuyer to input the data (i.e., buyer/seller names, agent names/address, sales price/loan amount, property address, current address, lender info, email addresses, etc.). Requiring you or your homebuyer to input data also eliminates a lot of potential errors. The approximate time to complete an online order is about 5 to 7 minutes.
If qualifying for the RealCredit™ isn’t enough to order settlement online, there are other compelling reasons:
For nearly 25 years, our independently owned title company has leveraged technology to streamline the closing process, providing top-notch service at a competitive price for buyers, sellers, agents and lenders across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Often imitated but never replicated – we set the bar other title companies aspire to reach.
Closing costs include taxes, lender fees and title fees that a homebuyer pays at settlement. Watch this video to prepare for the process.
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