The National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) marks its 15th anniversary this week by heading further west than it ever has. In the Valley of the Sun, the largest crowd yet will gather to hear from the best the industry has to offer over three days at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.
More than 700 attendees representing 340 companies – both records for NS3 – will get to hear from a pair of keynote speakers, a Fireside Chat between title and banking icons, and 59 presenters on subjects affecting all parties in the real estate transaction.
Keynote speakers Brian Montgomery, the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, and CMG Financial founder, chairman and CEO Christopher George highlight the event, which runs Tuesday through Thursday.
Montgomery will kick off the conference Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. ET) while George – the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association this year – will lead off Wednesday’s festivities with his address at 8:25 a.m.
Wednesday’s agenda will finish with a 1-on-1 conversation between WFG founder and Executive Chairman Patrick Stone and Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Richard Hunt.
Thursday’s agenda leads off with an underwriter panel featuring representatives from the Big Four – Jeff Bluhm of Old Republic National Title Insurance Co., Steven Day of Fidelity National Title Group, Tara Smith of Stewart and Evan Zanic of First American Title Insurance Co. – while Tuesday’s schedule features an independent underwriter panel with Mary O’Donnell of Westcor Land Title Insurance Co., Chris Phillips of First National Title Insurance Co. and David Townsend of Agents Title Insurance Co.
Tuesday’s schedule features two hours of technology demonstrations from industry leaders Qualia, Nexsys, SoftPro, ServiceLink and Pavaso, as well as a session on compliance management systems. The day’s sessions close with a regulator panel moderated by Garris Horn Partner Richard Horn focusing on consumer protection issues and featuring the Federal Trade Commission, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Virginia Bureau of Insurance.
Sessions are followed by the annual Make a Child Smile community outreach event, the Opening Night Reception and the Networking Nightcap.
Wednesday begins with George’s presentation on improving your craft to ease consumer anxiety. It’s followed by the presentation of the annual October Research awards before breakout sessions begin.
For the first time, NS3 will feature a third track, focused on sales and marketing insight. Other sessions during the day will address partner collaboration in the transaction , escrow security and cybersecurity, eClosings, RESPA compliance, using artificial intelligence and Blockchain, and the state of mergers and acquisitions.
The conversation between Stone and Hunt puts a bow on the educational sessions for Wednesday, and attendees then will be bused from the site to the Networking Reception at Culinary Dropout.
Thursday’s underwriter panel figures to start the final day with a bang while a sessions on boosting recruiting and hiring in the title industry follows. In addition, NS3 features a new event called Ask the Experts, where attendees will have the chance to bring their questions on compliance, technology, business-building and more directly to some of the leading experts in the field.
Finally, NS3 wraps up with a lender panel discussing collaboration between lenders and settlement agents, and featuring Robert Hinson of Bank of America, Jerra Ryan of First Choice Loan Services Inc. and Brian Webster of Wells Fargo Home Lending.