“Apparatus And Method For Generating Title Products” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20190139167)

2019 MAY 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Blackman, David H. (Corona, CA); Ehrhard, Terry A. (Fountain Valley, CA), filed on January 2, 2019, was made available online on May 9, 2019, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to First American Title Insurance Company (Irvine, California, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present invention relates to title products. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating title products related to insurance underwriting.

“The title insurance underwriting process has traditionally been a labor intensive process. Large financial institutions that underwrite title insurance employ large numbers of title examiners, abstractors and searchers. These individuals research title histories and laws to determine the possibility of a defect in title to a parcel of land. The research frequently requires searching databases for evidence of title and applying business rules to the evidence to generate title products for customers.

“Title insurance protects land purchasers and loan institutions from defects in title. A land purchaser may purchase title insurance to protect from an unknown claim of title. A home purchaser may be required to obtain title insurance prior to obtaining a mortgage on a property. Mortgagees and note purchasers may purchase title insurance to protect their collateral interest in a mortgage. Lien holders may also purchase title insurance to protect their collateral interest in the landowner’s debt.

“In the underwriting process, the databases searched for evidence of title may be fairly extensive. For example, county databases may be searched for the chain of title for the parcel of land or property. Public record databases may be searched for evidence of mortgages or liens on the parcel of land or property. Court databases may be searched for evidence of judgment liens. Proprietary databases may also be searched for histories of title insurance. Any database containing information for evaluating the risk associated with underwriting title insurance for the parcel of land may be searched.

“To make sound title underwriting decisions, a number of financial institutions have developed business rules to be applied as part of the underwriting process. The business rules allow employees at financial institutions to apply objective criteria to selecting and creating title products for a parcel of land or property. An analyst may compare evidence of title with business rules to determine underwriting risk, suitable title insurance products, and to determine if any other information about the land parcel should be acquired prior to making an underwriting decision. The business rules applied during the underwriting process may often vary according to the location of the parcel of land or property and the jurisdiction governing land ownership, taxation, recording and zoning.

“The large amount of human effort required to generate a title product often results in significant delays or errors in the underwriting process. The title underwriter may have to search multiple databases for title evidence, compare the evidence with voluminous business rules, create a title report and generate a title insurance product. This may result in significant delays or errors in the acquisition of secured financing or in closing a real property transaction. The lengthy process also affects the sale of mortgages in secondary markets, decreases market liquidity and increases transaction time and cost.

“Those skilled in the art will recognize that there is a need for faster more accurate systems and methods for generating title insurance products. The present invention addresses this need as well as others.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The present invention may include a system and method for generating title products for use by financial institutions. A device (e.g., computer or workstation) may receive a search request for a title product. The search request may have the address, legal description, or other indicia of location of a parcel of land or property. A search engine may issue search queries to one or more databases to retrieve information about the parcel land or property. The retrieved information may then be processed and sent to a rule engine. The rule engine may apply underwriting or other business practice rules to the retrieved information. If the rule engine identifies missing information, the rule engine may send supplemental queries to system operators. The system operators may then key in the required information. The rule engine may return the results of applying the business practice rules. The device may generate a title report, refined title data, insurance contract or other title product.

“In one embodiment, a method for generating a title product comprises receiving a title product request for a particular property, the title product request includes a type of title product, searching for title information related to the particular property, applying business practice rules to the title information to produce business practice results, and generating a title product using the business practice results.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for generating a title product comprising: receiving a title product request for a particular property, the title product request includes a type of title product; searching for title information related to the particular property; applying business practice rules to the title information to produce business practice results; and generating a title product using the business practice results.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Blackman, David H.; Ehrhard, Terry A. Apparatus And Method For Generating Title Products. Filed January 2, 2019 and posted May 9, 2019. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220190139167%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20190139167&RS=DN/20190139167

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