Tandy named Division President of United Title of Texas
February 13, 2007
In late 2004, Jerry Hauptman, Chairman of the Mercury Companies, decided it was time to move the largest independent title company in the United States into the robust Texas title insurance market. Rather than opening one title agency at a time into each of the state’s major markets, Hauptman requested that his management team open operations in every major market in Texas. Over 2005 and 2006, United Title of Texas was licensed by the Department of Insurance as a statewide title agency in the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Tyler market places.
Spearheading this phenomenal market growth are two title insurance company veterans, Jim Hilbun, Chairman and CEO and Tom Blackwell, President. The company had sales of $10.8 million in 2005 and sales of $25.2 million in 2006. “The 133.3% growth in revenue is a great beginning for the company” said Blackwell. “United is expected to grow by another 100+% in 2007.”
Hilbun and Blackwell acknowledge this kind of revenue growth would not have occurred without great management teams in each market. In Austin, for example, David Tandy was recently installed as the company’s Austin Division President. Tandy began his title insurance career in Austin with a major title insurance company underwriter in 1981 and was quickly promoted to Division President. His career has lead him to the position of Chief Information Officer of a national underwriter and to Executive Vice President of a national vendor management company, providing title insurance services and appraisal services to national lenders. In early 2007, Tandy decided it was time to get back to his roots in Austin.
When asked do you plan on opening any more branches in Austin, he replied, “Yes. United Title is growing. As a part of the largest independent title agency in the US, we have significant advantages to help us grow in all of our local markets. Austin is one of the most vibrant and solid real estate markets in the country and we are very excited about the opportunities we have to bring high quality service to the real estate community.”
To the question, do you plan on adding staff in Austin, he replied, “Yes. United Title presents a unique opportunity for title professionals who want to join a highly successful company where their hard work is appreciated and well rewarded. The company provides all of the support services needed to be successful whether its training, technology, management support, underwriting or statewide networking.”
When discussing new mega development in Austin, Tandy said, “While we are extremely focused on building our local relationships with the Realtor and Builder community, we have also seen rapid success with our state-wide initiatives. Our state-wide REO Services team has been very successful in working with national lenders and their business continues to grow for all of our offices in Texas. Additionally, our state-wide commercial business, under the direction of A.J. Waight, President of the Commercial Services Division, continues to grow. In 2 short years, we have already become one of the largest independent title operations in the State of Texas!”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.