ClosingCorp Forms Partnership with American Escrow Association
July 13, 2010
Closing.com, an independent provider of real estate information, and the American Escrow Association (AEA), a trade association representing real estate settlement agents in 10 western states, announced an association affiliation agreement between the two organizations. Under the terms of the agreement, Closing.com will provide benefits to the association including member discounts and sponsorship dollars. The AEA will help educate its members about Closing.com’s distribution network that reaches real estate professionals, lenders and consumers.
Closing.com is a database provider of escrow and title companies, as well as other real estate closing service providers. Consumers and real estate professionals are able to use the site’s closing cost calculator to determine actual closing costs for a specific property, including local taxes and recording fees, as well as a breakdown of seller vs. buyer paid costs as determined by local customs and practices.
“AEA is the premier industry association representing escrow companies and this partnership benefits not only our respective organizations, but the millions of consumers and real estate professionals who access Closing.com,” said Anthony Farwell, CEO of ClosingCorp, parent to Closing.com. “While regulators and legislators mandate greater transparency in the closing process, the industry has sought more efficient distribution channels to reach both their clients and their clients' agents, and Closing.com fulfills both objectives.”
AEA President Julie Best said, "The American Escrow Association is excited to begin its partnership with Closing.com. We know that this valuable member benefit will provide our constituents with an avenue to advertise their respective businesses while having an additional access point to our association. Our board believes that our budding relationship with ClosingCorp and Closing.com will be beneficial to us all."
Closing.com has been widely accepted by the real estate industry, having forged important partnerships with high-profile real estate Web sites such as Zillow, Trulia and ZipRealty along with nearly two hundred other Web sites that use the ClosingCorp’s SmartClosing Calculator.
Last year, ClosingCorp launched a new service, the SmartGFE, which allows lenders to gain instant access to settlement service fees and other closing costs to more accurately populate the 2010 Good Faith Estimate form mandated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Lenders also are able to easily create a list of service providers through the SmartGFE, required as part of HUD’s new RESPA Rules. The SmartGFE allows lenders to search, select and manage settlement service providers while also obtaining a compliance guarantee from Closing.com.
“The Closing.com service provider network is the most comprehensive in the industry and it is our ability to work closely with key industry associations like AEA that allows us to be more responsive to both our service provider partners and the professionals and consumers who access our closing cost estimating products,” said Farwell.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.