Stewart Realty Solutions Adds Espy as Vice President of Enterprise Business Development

May 11, 2005

HOUSTON, /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carl Espy has joined Stewart Realty Solutions as vice president of Enterprise Business Development. Stewart Realty Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC), providing realty firms and title agencies with Internet-based transaction management solutions that support the full service, "one-stop- shopping" business model. The SureClose(R) transaction management system is Stewart Realty Solutions' flagship product.

"Carl has been a senior-level executive within the real estate franchise and relocation industries, having been a co-founder of both the Coldwell Banker and Prudential residential real estate franchise networks," said Travis Wright, president and chief executive officer, Stewart Realty Solutions. "Within his various roles throughout his 30-year career, Carl has been an integral force in the development and deployment of industrywide business management solutions, and he fully understands the issues and concerns of real estate practitioners.

"Carl will be responsible for building and managing a team to deploy SureClose into the residential and commercial real estate marketplaces, as well as to multiple listing services, lenders, homebuilders and other business lines that are dependent on reliable, high-volume business processes, transaction management and document control," added Wright. "Carl's insights and skills in the area of business systems and the deployment of enterprise business solutions like SureClose make him a perfect addition to our leadership team."

Espy earned an MBA from the University of Alabama in 1975 and was a practicing CPA in Alabama and California until 1978, when he joined Coldwell Banker Commercial Brokerage in Los Angeles. He then became one of a small group of entrepreneurs in 1980 to found Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates Inc. In 1987, he left that company to create Prudential Real Estate Affiliates Inc., where he held the position of senior vice president of Operations. More recently, Espy held executive roles at GMAC Global Relocation Resources and Weichert Relocation Resources Inc. "I am proud to have become a part of a great company with a long history of integrity and success in the real estate industry," said Espy. "Stewart is a company that is passionate about enhancing the real estate transaction and SureClose is the technological hub that will provide an end-to-end solution for all participants in a real estate transaction. I am excited to be a part of the Stewart Realty Solutions team and eager to bring this preeminent technology to the marketplace."

Stewart began using SureClose in 2002 for its title operations to provide its title and closing services to real estate agents and brokers, lenders, builders, home buyers, home sellers and refinance customers. Today, SureClose is installed in more than 750 Stewart affiliated and independent title agent offices and has been used to facilitate the fulfillment of nearly 1,000,000 real estate transactions for its customers across the country.

Source: Stewart Information Services Corp.


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