Closing Market Weekly

Closing Market Weekly brings you up-to-date insights on the U.S. mortgage and real estate closing space. Hosted by Phillip Hogan, CEO of Signing Services of America, each episode breaks down trends, challenges, and expert tips from contract to close.

Closing Market Weekly is a business podcast hosted by The Closing Market Weekly, with 46 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

The Closing Market Weekly hosts Closing Market Weekly, a business show with 46 episodes published.

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  Closing Market Weekly

  Episode 47 Wire Fraud Hit $20.8B. Is Your Signing Vendor Ready?

  Aug 18, 202638 min

  In 2020, Americans lost about $4 billion to fraud in real estate transactions. In 2025, that number reached $20.8 billion. Same five years. Five times the loss. Rodney Anderson has spent 30 years in the title industry, and as an underwriter, he sees the claims after the process breaks. On this episode of Closing Market Weekly, he walks through a North Carolina cash-out refinance where the notary did not exist, the signature block was a photocopy, and the homeowner learned about a $350,000 loan when the servicing welcome letter arrived. The underwriter covered the loss. Then it came back on the settlement agent, who eventually shut down the closing side of the business. Rodney also lays out exactly what a title company, lender, or escrow firm should demand from any vendor touching its signing process. Insurance. Account ownership verification. Secure communication. Trained people. Operations leaders will want the last ten minutes. ⏱ CHAPTERS * 0:00 - Who Rodney Anderson Is and Why He Is Back * 0:49 - Why Settlement Services Needs Its Own Show * 1:55 - Three-Term State Representative, Not Senator * 5:04 - Picking Up the Title Fraud Conversation * 5:28 - Does the Notary or Signing Agent Carry the Risk * 8:40 - How Fraud Exposure Changes Across Multiple States * 10:22 - FBI Data: $4 Billion in 2020 to $20.8 Billion in 2025 * 11:26 - Cash-to-Close Wire Fraud Is Over 30 Percent of Cases * 13:37 - Mortgage Payoff Fraud and Why It Is More Sinister * 15:48 - The Callback That Still Stops Wire Fraud * 18:01 - Has RON Made Closings Safer or Riskier * 19:24 - North Carolina Case Study: A $350,000 Loss * 24:15 - Recap: Who Rodney Anderson Is * 25:18 - Identity Verification: Real Confidence or Checking a Box * 26:48 - Why Cyber Coverage Is Becoming Mandatory * 28:19 - Criminals Are Now Targeting the Entire Escrow Account * 29:38 - Recovery Steps After a Loss * 30:41 - What to Demand From a Signing Vendor * 32:27 - Cyber Software and Overseas IP Lockdown * 35:03 - Train Your People, the Softest Entry Point * 35:30 - The State of Wire Fraud 2026 Report * 36:40 - How to Reach Rodney Anderson * 38:10 - Closing Thoughts ────────────────────────────────────────────── Signing Services of America is a national managed notary signing service built on full process ownership and single point accountability. One team owns the signing from assignment to completion, with no handoffs and no gaps. Coverage in all 50 states, with notary placement in under 60 minutes. CONNECT WITH RODNEY ANDERSON Executive Vice President and National Agency Manager, Alliant National Title Insurance Company randerson@alliantnational.com Book a call with Phillip Hogan: https://calendly.com/phogan-signingservicesofamerica/meeting-w-phillip-hogan?utm_source=youtube&utm_ medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-anderson-alliant-national Visit Signing Services of America: https://signingservicesofamerica.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cm w-anderson-alliant-national Follow SSA on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signing-services-of-america/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=descri ption&utm_campaign=cmw-anderson-alliant-national New episodes of Closing Market Weekly every week. Like, subscribe, and share with someone in the industry. ────────────────────────────────────────────── title fraud prevention | wire fraud in real estate closings | mortgage payoff fraud | escrow account security | settlement agent liability | signing service vendor requirements | account ownership verification | identity verification for closings | title agency cyber insurance | managed notary signing service | title company vendor due diligence | remote online notarization risk | signing service accountability #TitleInsurance #WireFraud #TitleFraud #EscrowSecurity #MortgageOperations #SettlementServices #RealEstateClosings #NotarySigningService #ClosingMarketWeekly #SigningServicesOfAmerica

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  Closing Market Weekly

  Why This Commercial Escrow Officer Waits 18 Months to Close

  Aug 11, 202626 min

  A shopping center parking lot sat two feet inside its setback line for 30 years. Nobody flagged it until the survey hit the escrow officer's desk in the middle of a closing.That is the kind of thing that stalls a commercial file, and it is why this episode is worth 25 minutes for anyone who owns closing operations.Stephanie Thomas is a 25-year commercial escrow officer with Commonwealth Land Title National Commercial Services in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers the entire state and coordinates out-of-state commercial and multi-site transactions nationally. In this episode of Closing Market Weekly, host Phillip Hogan asks her what actually separates commercial escrow from residential, and the answer is not scale. It is the number of parties, the length of the timeline, and how much has to be tracked before anyone gets to a closing table.Stephanie walks through why the average commercial file takes six to 18 months, why traditional round-table closings rarely happen when buyers, sellers, and their attorneys sit in different states, and how documents are held in escrow until every original is back and every party signs off. She covers the due diligence clock on zoning, environmental, and phase one work, the role of the title commitment and the objection letter that comes back from the buyer's attorney, and where the surveyor fits in when a commitment reports an easement but nobody knows yet where it sits on the ground.She also gets into wire fraud, a national underwriter's ability to pull a solution from an office in another state, and the three property types driving Kentucky right now: large multifamily, data centers, and industrial.Closing Market Weekly is the show where real estate closings meet real-world insight. New episodes every week.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro: Stephanie Thomas, 25-year commercial escrow officer0:25 Host intro, Phillip Hogan0:47 Guest introduction1:16 Welcome to the show1:40 Commercial vs residential escrow: what actually differs2:25 How Stephanie moved into commercial escrow4:31 How national title scale changes what gets solved7:32 Wire fraud and email spoofing in closings8:36 The most complicated commercial closing she has worked9:56 The shopping center setback problem10:55 How underwriters collaborate across offices11:19 Mistakes lenders, buyers, and attorneys make in commercial deals12:26 Due diligence timelines and the attorney's role13:05 Title commitments and objection letters14:16 What the surveyor is actually responsible for15:38 Advice for moving from residential escrow to commercial16:23 Market trends: multifamily, data centers, industrial17:28 Kentucky commercial real estate, broken down18:55 How Stephanie got into title19:34 Take your daughter to work day20:01 From typing policies to escrow20:21 Short sales in 2008 and the move into escrow21:01 Title brain vs escrow brain21:22 Advice for people new to the title industry22:24 Real title defects and how they get cleared23:29 Why Closing Market Weekly exists24:03 Why understanding title documents matters24:20 Closing remarks and contact info25:42 OutroCONNECT WITH STEPHANIE THOMASEmail: stephanie.c.thomas@fnf.comCommonwealth Land Title National Commercial Services, Louisville, KYABOUT SIGNING SERVICES OF AMERICASigning Services of America is a national managed notary signing service built on full process ownership and single-point accountability. 46,000+ signings completed. 50-state coverage. CFPB compliant. Integrations with Qualia, ResWare, and SoftPro 360.Book a partnership call with Phillip Hogan:https://calendly.com/phogan-signingservicesofamerica/meeting-w-phillip-hogan?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-thomas-commonwealthWebsite: https://signingservicesofamerica.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signing-services-of-america/Subscribe for weekly conversations with the people who keep closings moving.

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  Closing Market Weekly

  Episode 45: Why This Title CEO Skip Traces Every Seller

  Aug 4, 202636 min

  Banks credit wire transfers to the account number. The name on the wire does not have to match. Kevin Thatcher has spent 23 years running Independence Title in South Florida and has worked with the FBI, the Secret Service, and the state attorney's office on fraud cases. In this episode of Closing Market Weekly, he walks through the seller verification controls his firm runs on every file, including phone-based skip tracing, live voice contact instead of email threads, and a standing requirement that a third-party notary his office hires physically meets every remote seller. He also breaks down what consumers and closing teams most often misunderstand about title insurance, why the title commitment functions as a temporary insurance binder, and the questions to ask a title company before there is ever a claim to file. Host Phillip Hogan is the CEO of Signing Services of America and the author of Relentless Excellence. Chapters 0:00 Meet Kevin Thatcher, founder and CEO of Independence Title 1:55 From New York firefighter to title company CEO 5:00 Why the four or five files that go wrong define the relationship 6:28 The fraud opening created by email-only communication 7:56 Skip tracing sellers before a file moves forward 9:24 Why every remote seller signing gets a third-party notary 10:17 Voice-to-voice contact with signing agents before the order 11:10 How skip tracing actually works and who uses it 13:09 The wire detail almost nobody knows 13:57 The most misunderstood thing about title insurance 15:38 How to vet a title company before you need to 18:30 Building a brand referral partners defend 24:12 The CHIP principle: consistency, honesty, integrity, persistence 30:35 The 24 to 48 hour wire recovery window 33:27 How to reach Kevin Signing Services of America coordinates vetted notary signing agents nationwide with single-point accountability on every closing. Book a conversation with Phillip: https://calendly.com/phogan-signingservicesofamerica/meeting-w-phillip-hogan?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-kevin-thatcher-independence-title Learn more: https://signingservicesofamerica.com/ Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signing-services-of-america/ Guest: Kevin Thatcher, Independence Title. Books referenced in this episode are listed on his site. -------------------------------------------------------------title fraud prevention, wire fraud recovery, seller identity verification, title insurance explained, notary signing service, settlement services, remote online notarization, closing protection letter, title commitment, real estate closing process

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  Closing Market Weekly

  Episode 44: The S Corp Tax Break Has a Catch Nobody Tells You

  Jul 31, 202632 min

  Most business owners are told to "just switch to an S corp." Almost nobody is told about the payroll obligation that comes attached to it. In this episode of Closing Market Weekly, attorney Roxanne Smithers of Smithers Law Group joins host Phillip Hogan, CEO of Signing Services of America, to break down the difference between your LLC legal structure and your S corp tax election. They are not the same thing. Confusing the two is where owners end up out of compliance with their state Department of Labor, sometimes before they ever see a dollar of tax savings. Roxanne explains why the LLC is a hybrid structure, how pass-through taxation actually works, and what the S corp election changes and does not change. She walks through the W-2 payroll requirement, the reasonable salary rule, the 130 to 140 percent rule of thumb for what an employee really costs, and the revenue point where the election starts to make financial sense. If you run your business through an LLC and you have ever wondered whether an S corp election is worth it, this conversation is the fine print nobody read to you. ⏱️ CHAPTERS * 0:00 - Intro & Teaser: The S Corp Tax Break With a Catch * 1:09 - Guest Bio: Attorney Roxanne Smithers, Smithers Law Group * 2:58 - Notes From My Legal Pad: Why She Started Teaching This * 4:54 - LLC vs. S Corp: What the Election Actually Changes * 5:19 - Why Most Entrepreneurs Start With an LLC (Hybrid Structure) * 7:06 - Pass-Through Taxation Explained * 9:29 - Making the S Corp Election: Tax Treatment, Not Legal Structure * 10:27 - Double Taxation & the Corporate Tax Rate Benefit * 11:13 - The Catch: You Must Put Yourself on W-2 Payroll * 12:22 - Salary vs. Profit Distributions * 14:15 - Penalties for Skipping the Payroll Requirement * 15:05 - At What Income Level Does an S Corp Make Sense? * 15:34 - The 130 to 140% Rule for Employing Yourself * 17:55 - Hidden Costs: E-Verify, State Labor Reporting & Withholdings * 18:44 - Reasonable Salary Rules Explained * 21:24 - Passive vs. Active LLC Members: Who Must Be an Employee * 23:35 - When to Elect: At Formation or Wait Until You Grow? * 26:48 - The Most Common Mistake When Going It Alone * 29:14 - Plan Right the First Time vs. Paying to Fix It Later * 29:50 - How to Reach Smithers Law Group * 31:43 - Outro ———————————— Signing Services of America is a national managed notary signing service built on single-point accountability: one team owns the entire signing process from assignment to completion, with no handoffs and no gaps. 50-state coverage, notary placement in under 60 minutes. Book a conversation with Phillip: https://calendly.com/phogan-signingservicesofamerica/meeting-w-phillip-hogan?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-roxanne-smithers-llc-s-corp Learn more: https://signingservicesofamerica.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-roxanne-smithers-llc-s-corp Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signing-services-of-america/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-roxanne-smithers-llc-s-corp New episodes of Closing Market Weekly every week. Like, subscribe, and share with someone in the industry. This conversation is general legal and business education, not legal, tax, or accounting advice for your situation. Talk to a licensed attorney and a CPA before making an entity or tax election decision. ———————————— LLC vs S corp | S corp tax election explained | should I elect S corp status | S corp payroll requirement | reasonable salary rule S corp | LLC tax treatment | pass-through taxation explained | small business entity structure | when to elect S corp | S corp for small business owners | business attorney vs CPA | Closing Market Weekly | Phillip Hogan | Signing Services of America #ClosingMarketWeekly #LLCvsSCorp #SCorpElection #SmallBusinessTaxes #BusinessStructure #EntrepreneurTips #BusinessLaw #SelfEmployed

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  Closing Market Weekly

  Episode 43: How One Fake Email Made a Buyer's Closing Funds Vanish | Elena Gallo, Fulcrum Title

  Jul 14, 202631 min

  After 25 years in real estate, Elena Gallo did what most people only talk about: she walked away from a national title company to build her own. In this episode of Closing Market Weekly, Director of Operations and COO of Fulcrum Title Elena Gallo joins host Phillip Hogan, CEO of Signing Services of America, to open up about what really happens inside a title company before a closing table is ever set. They get into the operational reality most people never see: balancing files with lenders, clearing title, the domino effect that delays everyone when one handoff slips, and the wire fraud threats that keep operations leaders up at night (including a real story of a wire that vanished). Elena also breaks down which technology is genuinely working, from Qualia to AI-assisted file setup, and what's over-hyped. If you run operations at a title company, mortgage lender, or escrow firm, or you coordinate signings from the outside, this one pulls back the curtain on the communication chain and on what separates a title operation that handles a closing gone sideways with grace from one that falls apart. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro & Guest Bio: Elena Gallo, Director of Operations at Fulcrum Title 2:50 - From Employee to Entrepreneur: When the Seed Was Planted 9:14 - What "Operations" Really Means at a Title Company 13:07 - Communication Breakdowns: Title Companies, Lenders & Signing Agents 16:08 - Technology in Title: What's Working (Qualia, AI) & What's Over-Hyped 20:50 - What Keeps You Up at Night: Wire Fraud & Real Stories 26:05 - When a Closing Goes Sideways: Handling It With Grace 29:46 - How to Contact Elena at Fulcrum Title 30:43 - Outro ———————————— Signing Services of America is a national managed notary signing service built on single-point accountability: one team owns the entire signing process from assignment to completion, with no handoffs and no gaps. 50-state coverage, notary placement in under 60 minutes. 📅 Book a conversation with Phillip: https://calendly.com/phogan-signingservicesofamerica/meeting-w-phillip-hogan?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-elena-gallo-fulcrum-title 🌐 Learn more: https://signingservicesofamerica.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-elena-gallo-fulcrum-title 🔗 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signing-services-of-america/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=cmw-elena-gallo-fulcrum-title New episodes of Closing Market Weekly every week. Like, subscribe, and share with someone in the industry.

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