Tri-Lakes Metro shuts doors

It was a different landscape for title insurance companies in 2004, when Springfield’s Tri-Lakes Metro Title Co. was founded out of a collaboration between Branson-based Tri-Lakes Title and Escrow LLC and Columbia-based Guaranty Land Title Insurance Inc.

After struggling with a declining real estate market the last two years, the Springfield title company has thrown in the towel.

Theresa Babbit Manlove, co-owner of Tri-Lakes Title and Escrow, said a 40 percent drop in work led to the February closure of Tri-Lakes Metro Title Co., which leased office space at 3844 South Ave. and in Bolivar, 640 E. Buffalo St. Both Tri-Lakes Title and Tri-Lakes Metro are under the umbrella of LandChoice Co. LLC, which is affiliated with seven branches – all with different names – across the state.

Manlove said Tri-Lakes Title employees at company-owned buildings in Branson, 800 State Highway 248, and Galena, 113 E. Fort St., will share the workload.

In the move, five employees lost their jobs – four in Springfield and one in Bolivar.

Katie Powell, a former title examiner in the Springfield office, said Tri-Lakes Metro had cut employee hours across the board in an attempt to avoid layoffs. Manlove said the staff was polled and opted for the reduced hours instead of immediate job cuts.

“I believe (Tri-Lakes co-owner Stephen Babbit) did everything he could to keep everybody working,” Powell said. “Everyone tried to drum up more business, but there just isn’t any.”

Nationwide, title insurers have been feeling the pinch of the recession since 2007. New York-based Fitch Ratings changed its outlook for the title industry to “negative” in March 2008 and hasn’t upgraded it since. According to Fitch’s U.S. title insurance industry Review and Outlook 2009–10, the industry lost $1.4 billion during 2007 and 2008.

“Business started declining when the whole world took a turn. For us, that was around the fall of 2008,” Manlove said, adding that the credit crisis meant fewer loans.

When business was booming in 2005 and 2006, Tri-Lakes Title and Tri-Lakes Metro had 36 employees in five offices. Now, there are 18 employees in three offices, including one employee in Kimberling City.

Other area title insurers also took a hit. Springfield-based Great American Title Co. saw approximately 30 percent fewer transactions in 2008 and 2009, compared to 2007, said Brian Russell, vice president of operations at Great American. The company, which President Peggy Barton estimates was at its peak in 2005 and 2006 with 17 offices, now has 13 offices serving eight counties, she said. Companywide, about 10 employees were laid off and a handful of positions were lost to attrition, Barton said.

Multiple aspects of the title business have been affected, including new home purchases, construction disbursement and refinancing, Russell said.

“As interest rates fell to, say 4.875, there were refinancing booms for the past several years. Now, interest rates have held flat for 12 to 18 months. There’s still refinancing going on, but not as many,” he said.

There are some indicators that the worst has already happened. In its outlook report, Fitch notes that title insurers appear to be “right-sized” after cost cuts in 2009, though the report predicts modest growth for 2010.

Barton said those numbers appear to fall in line with the local climate.

“We’re planning on a 10 percent increase for 2010,” Russell noted.

Manlove said Tri-Lakes Title will concentrate on its core business in Taney, Stone and Christian counties, while continuing to serve Tri-Lakes Metro’s clients.

As for Powell, fervent title job searches have come up empty.

“For weeks, I just called title companies … but nobody’s hiring,” she said. “Naturally, I’ll be looking outside the industry.”