How Producers Title Uses Qualia Shield to Mitigate the Risk of Fraud for their Clients
Download Case Study
About
Producers Title, LLC is a technology-led title company based out of West Palm Beach, Florida, whose mission is to provide innovative solutions, high-quality service, and value to clients during every home closing. Originally a small family-run business when it opened in 2003, the company was acquired in 2012. In 2017, Sean Batcheler, VP at Producers Title, knew it was time to start growing the business with a renewed focus on providing a superior client experience. He made implementing new software and processes to support company growth one of his top priorities. Today, Producers Title uses many Qualia products, most recently implementing Qualia Shield in 2023.
The closing process has traditionally been archaic, slow, and stressful for homebuyers and sellers. There is a huge opportunity for everyone in the industry to make the process better through technology like Qualia Shield.Sean Batcheler VP, Producers Title, LLC
In a Qualia conducted survey of title professionals, 3 out of 5 of respondents reported their business had been a target of wire fraud attempts. To that end, Batcheler was looking for software to support his goal of facilitating a more secure real estate transaction and ultimately give all transaction parties confidence that their money is going to the right place.
Challenge
**Considerable time spent collecting and disbursing funds** Before Batcheler implemented Qualia Shield, he saw firsthand the inefficiencies of disjointed funding and disbursement processes. He wanted to ensure the business could fully avoid the key challenges he saw in the traditional ways of collecting earnest money deposits (EMD), assessing wire instructions for the potential risk of fraud, and sending wires securely. **An opportunity to improve client experience with earnest money deposits** Batcheler needed an integrated solution that would provide clients with a seamless closing experience while saving buyers and agents significant time previously wasted on manual earnest money deposits. Buyers would take up to two hours out of their day taking time off of work, driving to the bank and waiting in line, and driving to Producers Title to drop off an earnest money deposit. Instead, Batcheler sought a system enabling clients to instantly generate digital checks or upload physical check images from anywhere. This flexibility would allow Producers Title to deliver an intuitive, unified experience to clients. **Not enough layers of protection for collecting and verifying wire instructions** In addition to the time spent on EMD collection, Batcheler’s team spent 15 minutes per closing manually contacting sellers by phone to gather their wire instructions. He wanted a system that would automate the communication process with clients to easily and securely collect sellers’ wire instructions so that his team could focus on other activities. Another funding-related challenge Batcheler wanted to solve at Producers Title was a lack of multiple layers of fraud protection related to payoffs. Assessing each set of payoff wire instructions for potential fraud risk took a lot of time. Employees maintained a spreadsheet outside their title production system and manually called or faxed payoff lenders to verify bank details. **A lack of integration between their client portal, bank, and title production software** The staff at Producers Title spent 10 minutes per closing rekeying wire instructions from one system to another, particularly in utilizing templates for individual clients in their bank portal for the outgoing wire approval process.
In the past, we used templates in our bank portal to queue up payoffs. With the old way of doing things, you had to re-enter that information for each individual customer or agent over and over again.Sean Batcheler VP, Producers Title, LLC
Solution
After years of working in the title & escrow industry, Batcheler decided it was time to provide a fully integrated client experience where funds could be moved securely and with confidence. He chose Qualia Shield to provide clients and employees with a modern, technology-led closing. **Less time spent on EMD collection** With Qualia Shield, buyers can log in anywhere to deposit their earnest money, eliminating the need to drive long distances to drop off a check or wait in line at the bank.
The Shield earnest money deposit feature alone is a competitive advantage for title companies and real estate agents because it can save their clients hours worth of time.Sean Batcheler VP, Producers Title, LLC
Buyers can easily deposit a digital check with Producers Title or upload a physical check image, which gives them the flexibility to choose how they want to deposit their earnest money. **Added layers of protection against wire fraud** When Producers Title opens a purchase order, Qualia Shield automatically sends an information request for wire instructions to the seller. As a result, sellers have a secure method of sending those wire instructions by directly linking a bank account of their choice to receive proceeds. Producers Title employees no longer need to manually follow up to collect that information because the system automatically sends reminders.
As fraud attacks continue to evolve, anything we can do as an industry to prevent wire fraud is obviously a good thing.Sean Batcheler VP, Producers Title, LLC
The bank account information provided by the seller is then automatically compared to information previously entered by Producers Title staff, such as the account holder’s name. If the information does not match, Producers Title is alerted of potential fraud risk.
“It gives us more confidence in wire instructions to see that everything the seller provided is matching what we already have in the system, like their address,” said Batcheler. “And if it doesn’t match, the system signals to our employees that they need to take extra steps to verify the wire instructions and investigate if something doesn’t look right.”
Staff at Producers Title can also review payoff bank details using Qualia Shield. This helps them minimize the risk of wire fraud. “Wire fraud attempts on payoffs, in particular, are getting more aggressive,” said Batcheler. “With the ability to assess payoffs for potential fraud risk in Qualia, the comfort level is definitely higher.” **Connectivity between systems helps Producers Title operate more efficiently** With Qualia Shield, Producers Title collects and disburses funds seamlessly. Bank account information flows securely from their clients to their title production software to their bank portal, and wires are approved with confidence by employees. Not only does Qualia Shield help Producers Title operate more efficiently, but they are also able to reduce the number of portals for clients and therefore provide a superior client experience.
In the course of a real estate transaction, buyers, sellers, and real estate agents are bombarded with requests to log in to multiple platforms. Buyers and sellers may access six different platforms in a 30-day experience, which creates a lot of frustration and confusion. Qualia helps us provide a consolidated, unified client experience. Every minute you can save a customer is time well spent.Sean Batcheler VP, Producers Title, LLC
Results
**25 minutes saved per file and a unified closing experience for clients** With Qualia Shield, collecting and disbursing funds is significantly more efficient than what Batcheler previously experienced. His team spends less time handling the tedious processes of EMD collection, collecting and verifying wire instructions, and wire authorization. Through Qualia Shield, Producers Title benefits from a seamless integration of tools that enables automatic and secure collection and disbursement of funds. With these efficiencies, the Producers Title team has more time back in their day and can provide a unified closing experience. Get in touch with us and learn how you can speed up funding and disbursement processes at [learn.qualia.com/shield](https://learn.qualia.com/shield).
