Secure Insight has announced the results of their latest title and settlement industry survey. In a survey conducted of settlement professionals and mortgage industry executives nationwide, the responses were informative.
►In response to the question “Are you familiar with federal and state laws regarding your handling on non-public consumer personal and financial data?” the following results can be reported: 99 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and one percent responded “No.”
►In response to the question “Have you attended or participated in any industry data privacy and security education and training in the previous 12 months,” the following results can be reported: 84 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and 16 percent responded “No.”
►In response to the question “Do you currently have written consumer data privacy and security policies in place for your business and employees,” the following results can be reported: 96 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and 14 percent responded “No.”
►In response to the question, “Have you experienced or witnessed any data security breaches (e-mail scams, wire fraud schemes, identity theft) in connection with any closing transactions you have handled in the previous 12 months,” the following results can be reported: 32 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” 65 percent responded “No,” and three percent declined to answer.
►In response to the question, “Have you made any changes to your office procedures so that wire instruction communications with lenders … attorneys and realtors are conducted securely,” the following results can be reported: 94 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and six percent responded “No.”
►In response to the question “Have you adopted policies to require the verbal verification of wire instructions prior to closing,” the following results can be reported: 92 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and eight percent responded “No.”
►Finally, in response to the question “Do you presently carry cyber-liability insurance coverage,” the following results can be reported: 57 percent of title and settlement firms responding answered “Yes,” and 43 percent responded “No.”
The survey was conducted Nov. 10-27, 2017 and sent to 350 title and settlement firms nationwide and a total of 227 firm’s responses were calculated on Nov. 28. Percentages were rounded to the nearest whole number for reporting convenience. This survey is one of a continuing series of industry polls conducted by Secure Insight over the past few years to gain the pulse of the industry on issues important to the settlement profession and mortgage industry generally.
