All posts tagged: Land Title of America

New Licensed Title Agent, Jolene Martyn

Land Title of America, Inc. is proud to announce that team member, Jolene Martyn, has become a licensed title agent.  In this capacity, she joins ranks with Stephen Collins, Lisa Byers, and Karen Richmond at Land Title to write title insurance policies with their underwriters:   Fidelity National Title, Westcor Land Title, First American Title, and AmTrust Title.  Thus Jolene expands service to customers, and enhances her own professional stature.  Go Jolene! 

LandTitleofAmerica-licensed-agent-blog-post-MartynJ2-pic

“Jolene Martyn comes from a place where hard work means something, and she’s headed to where experience pays off in lasting value,” says Land Title owner Stephen Collins, “and benefitting the customers the whole way.” 

The best part of home ownership is not paying rent into someone else’s pocket, according to Jolene.  However, the entire closing process, from signing the contract to getting the deed, can be a bit mysterious to many buyers and sellers.  That’s where a good title agent comes in. 

The role of a title agent is to perform accurate closings based on the contract and with the title commitment requirements, and make it look seamless to the customer.  “If you are detail-oriented, like to research, and can solve puzzles, it’s a great job for you,” says Jolene.  She compares her job to a puzzle where you have to put all the pieces together, while actively watching out for fraud (a great reason to use a title company!). 

Does she have a specialty?  Yes she does:  mobile homes and mobile home transfers.  While Jolene is licensed to write title for any type of property, these are her particular specialty niche market.  

With her new professional status, her role as a closer is strengthened, to the deep benefit of her customers.  She now has direct communication with the underwriters.  She can see more information, and has access to more information and tools.  For example, a recent customer needed to sign with a mark (instead of a standard signature), and Jolene was able to directly download the appropriate forms to make that possible.  Thus she can streamline the closing process, making the transaction easier and faster to complete for customers. 

As an insider to the title industry, Jolene’s advice to buyers and sellers is twofold:  1) Do NOT close without a survey, and 2) ALWAYS use a title company, because you have no idea what’s in the chain of title.  And that goes for investors as well as residential customers. 

An area native, Jolene’s first introduction to real estate title started in 2003, and she has been with Land Title since 2017.  She credits her years of experience with helping her pass the licensure test.   The study guide is nearly two inches thick, but her familiarity with the Marketable Records Title Act (MRTA) and riparian rights, as well as numerous other technical topics gave her the qualifying experience to pass the test, and add immeasurable value to every file she touches.  You may contact Jolene Martyn at Land Title at (904) 797-9600 or by email at [email protected].  Go Jolene! 

Land Title of AmericaNew Licensed Title Agent, Jolene Martyn
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Land Title Sponsors Powerlifter Delia Hernandez

Land Title of America, Inc. is proud sponsor of Powerlifter Delia Hernandez, and congratulates her on her First Place Win at the Jenn Competition in Lakeland, May 2022.  Way to go Delia! 

Delia’s Reminder:  “I came from somewhere too.”

Delia Hernandez grew up in Athens, Texas.  As a high school senior, she competed in a regional powerlifting meet, and qualified to represent her school at the state level. 

Then she went on to serve in the US Navy, but when she left the military, she was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.  “Some days I used to walk like grandma,” she says of the debilitating disease.  With medication she was able to train again, but she had to start from the ground up in movement and form. 

Delia’s Motto:  “There’s always a way.”

Powerlifter Delia Hernandez

Delia has a degree in sports medicine, and has been a personal trainer for six years.  Her career began with general population, recovering from injury, dealing with chronic physical challenges, and improving overall fitness.  Over the last few years, and up to recently, she has transitioned to training mostly women of all fitness levels who want to feel stronger and are curious about the sport of powerlifting.  In May 2021, she started her own business, Empowered Lifting.  It took off by word of mouth, which is how she met a sponsor representative from Land Title.  In January 2022, Delia began training with her coach, Daniel Tinerajo (based in Ormond Beach, Florida).  Five months later she was standing on top of the podium at the Jenn Competition. 

Delia’s Goal:  Create a community of women who feel strong and empowered. 

The future is brighter with competition, both in her personal life and her business. 

With more competition under her belt, Delia is more confident to train others in strength training, especially women.  Already she has introduced a handful of girls to powerlifting and competition.  She enjoys the camaraderie of the sport, where one can feel the energy, and see the strength of a person push through with the right instruction, instruction that keeps a person safe.  She wants to promote that progression in herself, and in other women like her. 

Delia’s Secret of Success:  Drive and the determination to push for more.

For Delia, the lifts at the Jenn Competition felt surprisingly easy.  She is ready for the next challenge.  Right now, that means four days a week in the gym.  She is excited about the layout of the program she has with her coach, and looking to the next meet, scheduled for October this year.  One of her biggest obstacles is to take days off, give her body that chance to rest, recover, and build strength.  Her fuel is carbohydrates before the gym, protein after, and she wakes up each morning with an appetite for more success. 

You can follow Delia on Instagram @delias_world_ and her client spotlights @empowered.lifting

Delia Hernandez Jenn Competition Top Results, May 2022


Squat                    130 kg / 287 lbs

Bench                   70 kg / 154 lbs

Deadlift 155 kg / 342 lbs

A New Personal Record by 30 pounds!

Land Title of America, Inc. is a real estate closing and title company in St. Augustine, Florida.  At Land Title, we celebrate our community, and we are proud to support Delia and her showcase of strength.  For information about local sponsorship through Land Title, contact Stephen Collins at (904) 797-9600

Land Title of AmericaLand Title Sponsors Powerlifter Delia Hernandez
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WHAT MAKES TITLE INSURANCE DIFFERENT?

Owner’s title insurance is like health insurance in that you never want to use it, but you’re glad to have it if you need it. But unlike health insurance, title insurance has a low, one-time premium that gives you a lifetime of coverage for a property.

Owner’s title insurance is different than other types of insurance because it’s not casualty insurance.

Title Insurance fees are regulated by the State of Florida. The base rate is $5.75 per thousand up to $100,000, and $5.00 per thousand thereafter up to $1 million. Check with your title company for specifics on discounts available for some transactions. Proper title endorsements to the policy are also a part of your complete coverage and those vary depending on the property. The base rate and the endorsements don’t come near the legal cost you’d have to pay to defend your ownership rights. And remember, you only have to pay the premium once for owner’s title insurance and you’re good for life.

Title insurance is good for all real estate ownership. If you are unsure whether or not you have title insurance on your inherited or gifted property, contact Land Title of America, Inc. at 1-904-797-9600, and we’ll be glad to check your title insurance status for free.

Land Title of AmericaWHAT MAKES TITLE INSURANCE DIFFERENT?
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WAD OF CASH

How big of a wad of cash can you flush down the toilet?  Is $10,000 too much?  I mean you might have friends coming over, what if only a few thousand dollars clogged the system?  Are hundred dollar bills septic safe?  Those are the questions you have to ask if you own real estate without an owner’s title insurance policy.

Title claims happen in the best of families, and in the worst.

Even with a title search, there can still be questions of property ownership due to clerical errors, unrecorded deeds and documents, and a whole range of other circumstances.  It is the homeowner’s responsibility to defend their ownership rights against such claims.  Even if the claims have no validity whatsoever, it is still your responsibility to stand up in court and say, “No, that’s mine!”  Otherwise you could automatically lose your home.

If you don’t have title insurance, then you have to pay the legal fees to defend your ownership rights.  The real tragedy is that you could foot the bill in court—the lawyers, the filing fees, and other legal costs—and you could still lose.  That means your money is gone AND your house is gone.  You could be left without a pot…to throw your money away in.

Here’s an idea:  don’t risk your money or your house—get an owner’s title insurance policy. 

An owner’s title insurance policy not only pays the court costs, the policy also provides the legal defense.  Yep, they bring the lawyer.  How much does title insurance cost?  A lot less than a plumber.  For a low, one-time premium, you can purchase a lifetime of title insurance that covers your financial obligation toward the property.  Furthermore, if you do get sued for title to your house, and if your case does not prevail in court, then you get the amount of the policy.

Even with title insurance, you could still lose your case, but you don’t lose everything.  Without title insurance, you might as well chuck wads of cash down the toilet and find out how much you can afford to flush.

Land Title of AmericaWAD OF CASH
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YOUR CHOICE

If you were buying a new Ford F-250, would you let your mother-in-law pick the color?

Would you get a telemarketer to name your firstborn?

Would you take fishing advice from a flight attendant (well, maybe if she’s from Alabama)?

Then why in the world would you let your lender tell you where to have your real estate closing?

If you pay, you choose.  The bank cannot force you to use their title company.

Nothing is free.  The lender may claim that they pay the closing costs, but the rate of the loan will be affected by them covering your title fees.  They’re making money at your expense—financially and maybe emotionally too.  That “one-stop” shopping—get your financing and your closing from your lender—is not as convenient as it is expensive!

Typical pitfalls of a lender-owned (or real estate broker-owned) title company include:

  • Extra charges for non-applicable fees
  • Not honoring applicable discounts
  • Motivation to just get the deal closed no matter what the fine print says

A locally owned third-party title company avoids these pitfalls, saving you money, and also gives you a fresh set of eyes reviewing your closing documents with you.  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!  Seek some oversight when big money is on the table.

Look ya’ll, I’m buyin’ a house!

You can do it the smart way with a locally owned third-party title company and get better service and save money, or you can use the lender’s or real estate-owned title company—it’s your choice.  Be smart!!

Land Title of AmericaYOUR CHOICE
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INSURE YOUR HOME OWNERSHIP LIFESTYLE

Not everyone should own a home. No offense, but we need all types to make the world go round—we need homeowners, and we need landlords and tenants. Not everyone is suited for the stability of home ownership, and thankfully in America, we have the freedom of diversity.

In the United States we can enjoy different lifestyles, some of which aren’t compatible with a permanent living situation. Home ownership requires a certain lifestyle with certain sacrifices. What do I have to give up for a beach house? Renting a place to live may be a temporary situation, or it can be a way of life.

However, if you can afford a home, insure your title to it. If you are able to put your hard-earned money into a home, pay the one-time for an owner’s title insurance policy, which insures your rightful entitlement to the property. Just because you got a survey and a title search and did everything right doesn’t mean that someone else didn’t do something wrong.

If home ownership is the lifestyle for you, insure that lifestyle with title insurance, to protect yourself financially from the legal expense of a challenge to your ownership. Remember, it’s expensive to be right.

Land Title of AmericaINSURE YOUR HOME OWNERSHIP LIFESTYLE
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LAND TITLE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Land Title of America, Inc. celebrates two decades of business in St. Augustine in 2017.  The best part, according to company president, Stephen Collins, is the homeowners they have helped in that time.  Since 1997, Land Title has performed title searches, assisted in real estate transactions, and offered title insurance to protect homeowners from financial loss due to a challenge against their real estate ownership.

In 1997, the first Harry Potter book came out, the stock market hit record highs, and Stephen Collins opened Land Title of America, Inc. in St. Augustine, Florida.  He credits his aunt and uncle, John and Faye Gullett, who financed his venture, and Robert Mooney who granted him an agency agreement through Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.  These people provided him with the infrastructure to make his company a reality.

Stephen Collins was no stranger to the title industry, having grown up in the family business, Collins Title & Abstract Co., Inc., which had served Northeast Florida since 1979.  Stephen remembers being a human fax machine:  biking documents from one office to another starting when he was in middle school.  Raised with a foundation of family values hand in hand with solid business practices, Stephen carried the tradition forward to meet the challenges of today’s real estate market.

“On the one hand, I can’t believe it’s been twenty years,” says president and owner, Stephen Collins, “but on the other hand, so much has changed.”

Twenty years is a major milestone given the real estate market over the past two decades.  Land Title opened when the Dow Jones and New York Stock Exchange hit record highs and real estate was booming too, but then the subprime mortgage crisis began in 2007, which led to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.  Land Title not only had to shift its focus within the market, it also had to adjust how it did business according to the new regulations.

Flexibility and creativity became keys to survival and success.  Stephen Collins expanded the company’s online presence with social media and a new website (www.GoLandTitle.com/).  Also he and his brother, Rusty, began to host the bi-monthly radio show, “Land Title Talk” on 102.1 FM WFOY (first and third Fridays at 8:00 a.m.)  The on-air discussions keep the public informed about real estate and legal issues affecting our area, and helps Stephen to know the concerns of homeowners living here.

Probably the most creative business strategy was the music marketing.  In 2011 the Collins brothers started a band called Old Enough-2-Know Better (OE-2-KB), which gave Stephen another way to reach out to customers and potential customers.  Now OE-2-KB performs every third Wednesday at Gypsy Cab’s Corner Bar, and every third Friday at the Orioles Nest #324, plus special events, like the Blue Crab Festival and St. Augustine Beach Blast (www.oe-2-kb.com).

Over the last twenty years, Land Title of America has played an important role to solidify property value in Northeast Florida.  Their commitment to customer satisfaction and their dedication to homeowner rights remain unchanged into their future.  You may contact Land Title at (904) 797-9600 or visit their website at www.GoLandTitle.com.

Land Title of AmericaLAND TITLE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS
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