Executive of the Month: Israel, president of MiT Land Services: Legal expertise and education driving rapid growth for title insurance agency

New York, NY MiT Land Services (MiT) president Marc Israel is heading up one of the fastest-growing title insurance agencies on the East Coast. Led by Israel’s deep knowledge of title insurance law and more than 28 years of industry experience, MiT has insured a large and diverse collection of properties along the East Coast, including a high profile $300 million New York City development as well as issuing title policies for what will be one of the tallest towers in Queens County. Founded in the late summer of 2014, MiT tripled its revenue in its most recent fiscal quarter and now employs 12 title sales agents along with more than 30 back-end production professionals. Industry Expertise After graduating from Duke Law School in 1987, Israel spent 17 years practicing law with stints both as a solo practitioner and as an attorney for some of New York City’s most recognizable law firms. In 2004, he shifted his course to business development, working for two title agencies and learning the trade of how to attract business from lawyers, developers, lenders and others. It was during this time that Israel garnered a reputation amongst his peers as a title insurance expert with a deep knowledge of the law. “I was apprehensive about leaving the day-to-day practice of real estate law for the title end of the deal,” Israel said. “But I actually feel that I became a much better lawyer when I did so because I now get to work closely with some of the smartest and most talented real estate practitioners on all sorts of fascinating legal and title issues. We help and push each other, which raises the level of everyone’s game.” After a decade of service in the industry, Israel launched MiT in August, 2014 as an independent title insurance agent to three of the nation’s largest underwriters - First American, Old Republic, and Stewart Title, and has quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the top title insurance agents in New York. “MiT has quickly proven to be one of our best agents and do a great job representing First American and our brand,” said Steven Vincini, vice president and New York State manager for First American Title Insurance Company. MiT Market Growth Israel has used strategic partnerships along with a longstanding familiarity of the New York marketplace to uncover growth opportunities. Indeed, MiT’s rapid success in New York has allowed Israel to expand and target key markets throughout the country. Earlier this year MiT competed against some of the nation’s largest underwriters, as it secured a highly competitive bid for a Texas-based client that closes thousands of transactions annually across nearly 20 states along the East Coast and Midwest. MiT has also secured several large real estate deals in key markets such as Miami and Philadelphia and is in active talks to significantly expand its presence in those cities. A major part of MiT’s expansion is credited to strategic hirings that have added expertise to the business. One such hiring was bringing on former Skyline Title managing director Bryant Goulding to drive business development. Israel has stacked his executive leadership with numerous business development leaders, title insurance attorneys, clearance officers and other industry veterans to go with MiT’s back office team who average more than 15 years in the title industry. National Law Institute Another major driver of growth has been MiT’s sister company, the National Law Institute (NLI) which was founded by Israel in 2006 and began as a Continuing Legal Education program designed to educate attorneys while providing them with their required continuing education credits. NLI now has over 400 hours of courses that, between the 80-90 annual in person classroom sessions, together with online classes, have been taken to date by close to 10,000 lawyers in New York. More recently, when New York State enacted a Title Insurance Licensing law in September 2014, Israel, through NLI, became one of only two companies accredited in New York State to teach the pre-licensing course and administer the pre-licensing exam. Those classes have now been expanded to include continuing education courses that are required of every person licensed to issue title insurance policies in New York. “It was definitely a game-changer as it puts MiT on the cutting edge of all of the changes in the industry. I enjoy the opportunity to teach and share what I know with my colleagues and, in turn, I learn a tremendous amount from them,” Israel said. Future Outlook The coming months are sure to see a rise in demand for compliance and regulatory experts to address the CFPB’s industry changing “Know Before You Owe” regulations, which went into effect on October 3rd and will completely revamp how residential mortgages are sold and closed all over the country. The new regulations were written to reform how business is conducted between residential lenders, borrowers, and the many vendors involved in those mortgage transactions, including title companies. Israel has taken a leading role in educating the industry on the new regulations, and is teaching CFPB related classes to attorneys, lenders, and brokers. This is an example of the company’s deep understanding of, and adherence to, compliance within the evolving regulatory environment will surely continue to be a main driver of future growth. “MiT has seen tremendous growth this first year driven by high demand in our commercial and residential divisions in New York and nationally,” said Israel. “Based on our current trajectory and strategic partnerships in place, we expect to experience similar growth in the coming year.”