ARS is heading to Irvine, CA for this year’s NRMLA Western Regional Meeting. Click here to learn more about this event.
Join us on June 9, 2026 at 3:30pm PST at the Top Challenges in Reverse Mortgages: Practical Solutions for Today’s Loan Originator where Tina Meilinger, SVP, will be presenting. This session is approved for 1 CRMP credit.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Click here to schedule an appointment.
This year, Allegiant Reverse Services held their annual competition at Top Golf. Family joined in the fun and watched as the teams battled it out swing for swing. In the end, the Gold Team took home the win!
Cheers to ARS! Celebrating 10 years!
Ten years ago, Allegiant Reverse Services was built on a simple idea: focus on people, do the right thing, and earn trust one transaction at a time.
At the time, the reverse mortgage industry was changing rapidly. Large institutions were exiting the space, the market was volatile, and many lenders and borrowers were looking for consistency, experience, and reliability in an increasingly uncertain environment.
We saw an opportunity to build something different.
Not bigger for the sake of being bigger. Not louder. Not more automated. Just better.
Better service. Better relationships. Smoother closings.
A company built around experienced people who cared deeply about the work, the relationships, and the shared responsibility that comes with helping seniors and their families navigate important financial decisions.
From the beginning, our focus was simple: Reverse Done Right.
That meant rolling up our sleeves and doing whatever it took to close transactions accurately, professionally, and on time. It meant staying proactive, communicating clearly, answering the phone, and never losing sight of the people behind every transaction.
Over the last decade, that commitment has allowed us to grow into a nationwide reverse mortgage title and settlement company serving clients across 48 states, supporting more than 130,000 successfully closed transactions, and helping shape the industry along the way.
As I reflect on the last 10 years, I’m proud of many things. But what I’m most proud of isn’t the growth itself — it’s the trust behind it.
Trust is something that can never simply be claimed. It has to be earned through consistency, accountability, responsiveness, and showing up for people year after year.
That philosophy has guided us from day one.
In our business, a successful closing is often much bigger than a transaction. Many of the borrowers we serve are making needs-based decisions that directly impact their quality of life, financial security, healthcare, or ability to remain in their homes.
That’s something our team has never taken lightly.
Over the years, our industry has experienced market shifts, changing regulations, evolving technologies, and increasing complexity. Through it all, one thing has remained true: this business is still deeply human.
Technology can help us become more efficient, but it will never replace the value of experience, communication, and human judgment.
In a world quickly moving toward automation, we remain committed to personal interaction, real accountability, and doing things the right way — for you and your senior borrowers.
One of the things we say internally is that a great closing experience is “quiet.” No unnecessary noise. No confusion. No avoidance when challenges arise. Just experienced professionals working together behind the scenes to solve problems, protect everyone involved, and help transactions move smoothly from start to finish.
That mindset exists because of our people.
Today, more than 25 team members have been with ARS for over 10 years. Many took a leap of faith in the early days when all we had was a vision, a strong work ethic, and belief in what we could build together.
What made those early years special was the complete lack of ego. People simply cared. They stepped up, solved problems, supported one another, and put their fingerprints on this company in ways that still shape who we are today.
That same spirit continues to drive us forward.
To our clients, lender partners, brokers, vendors, and industry relationships — thank you for being part of this journey. Your trust, loyalty, and partnership over the last decade have meant everything to us.
As we celebrate this milestone, we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built together — but we’re equally focused on the future.
We believe the need for trusted, experienced, relationship-driven partners will only become more important in the years ahead.
As we celebrate this important milestone, “A Decade of Trust” has taken on a special meaning. It represents relationships built over time, challenges overcome together, and a shared commitment to serving this industry the right way.
Through focus. Through hard work. Through leadership. Through care.
We’ve earned this — together.
We’re grateful for the relationships that brought us here, and we look forward to continuing to work alongside you for many years to come.
— Rob Awalt
Founder & President
Written by: Kevin Weaver, Unwriting Counsel
There are few things in life more comforting than the phrase “free and clear.” It sounds clean, final, almost spiritual. Like a monk ringing a bell in a mountain temple, or a pristine spring bubbling up in a virgin forest. Or perhaps more appropriately in the real estate world, like an escrow officer finally closing a file at 8:00 p.m. on a Friday.
So when ABC (Always Be Closing) Title Company issued a title commitment showing a property free and clear of mortgages, everyone involved breathed easier.. However, the lender for the new transaction, cautious as lenders tend to be when large sums of money and human optimism collide, questioned whether Lender X had an open mortgage that ABC Title Company had missed. Research was conducted. The public records reflected that a prior mortgage held by “Lender X” had been properly released months earlier, which explained why the mortgage was not reported on the commitment. The release not only appeared legitimate, it was legitimate. The records were clean. The loan closed.
Case closed.
Except, of course, it wasn’t.
Months later, ABC Title Company learned that Lender X had begun foreclosure proceedings on the very mortgage it had supposedly released. Like a villain returning in the third act after dramatically falling off a cliff, the mortgage had somehow survived its own demise.
Further investigation revealed the twist: after the closing, Lender X recorded a notice stating that its prior release had been filed “in error,” and that the mortgage remained outstanding.
One imagines a collective groan from every person involved in the transaction.
Borrower, understandably alarmed, was advised to retain legal counsel. ABC Title Company, meanwhile, found itself in the awkward position of being both likely correct and potentially very busy. Under longstanding principles of recording law, the new lender and Title Company relied upon a duly recorded release appearing in the public records at the time of closing. That reliance matters. It’s called constructive notice. Public records exist so parties can trust them without needing a séance or a forensic accounting team.
Likely, the new lender’s insured mortgage should retain first lien priority. Courts are generally reluctant to punish innocent parties who reasonably relied upon recorded instruments that appeared valid on their face. Otherwise, the entire recording system would collapse into chaos, and every closing would require bloodhound investigations into whether someone at a bank accidentally clicked the wrong button six months earlier.
Still, being right and proving you are right are two very different things.
Even if ABC Title Company ultimately prevails, defense costs will follow. Lawyers, unlike recorded releases, rarely disappear by mistake. Litigation consumes time, money, and patience. Borrowers lose sleep. Lenders grow irritated. Title examiners develop tics and new stress-related facial expressions.
So, is there a lesson here?
Several, actually.
First, public records are indispensable, but they are not divine scripture. Errors happen. Releases are mistakenly filed. Institutions occasionally discover their “clerical error” only after another transaction has already closed and funded.
Second, title insurance exists precisely for these moments — when certainty suddenly becomes less certain. Most people view title insurance the way they view umbrellas: mildly annoying until the storm arrives.
And finally, there is a broader lesson about modern commerce itself. Entire industries depend upon trust in systems that are ultimately operated by imperfect human beings. Recording statutes, title examinations, mortgage servicing platforms — all are designed to create order from potential confusion. Most days, they succeed quietly and invisibly. But every so often, one resurrected mortgage reminds everyone that behind every neat stack of closing documents lurks the ever present possibility of human error.
In real estate, as in horror films, sometimes the thing everyone believed was buried comes clawing its way out of the grave.
We are constantly updating to reflect any increases or decreases in state fees or underwriter changes to ensure you are pulling accurate quotes each time. Our calculator has been updated to reflect fee changes in the following state(s):
-Alabama
Conveniently get a quote any time, day or night, by simply and accurately inputting the required information and let our interactive fee calculator do the rest. Please call 844-808-8299 or email [email protected] for further details or for a quote.
Written by: Mylene Marcelo, Title Manager/Title Officer
One of the most common issues we continue to encounter in title and curative is the missing death certificate. While it may seem like a routine document request, the death certificate often becomes critical to establishing clear and insurable title especially in files involving survivorship rights, deceased borrowers, trusts, inherited property, and probate-related matters.
The challenge is that recording requirements vary significantly by state and sometimes even by county.
For example, in Butler County, Alabama, death certificates are generally not recorded as standalone instruments, and an Affidavit of Death may be recorded together with a redacted certified copy of the death certificate. In Chippewa County, Michigan, an affidavit together with a copy of the death certificate may be acceptable but other counties will require certified or original copy. In Jackson County, Missouri, an original death certificate is required for recording and in Franklin County, Ohio, the county auditor will require the original death certificate as part of the process.
It is important to know that County recording requirements may also change over time depending on how instruments are indexed, recorded, or reviewed within the local recording system. Some counties may update their recording standard requirements based on grantor/grantee indexing practices, legal description requirements, assessor integration, fraud prevention measures, or recording system updates. Because of this, title and our recording teams are continually reviewing and updating requirements as counties revise their recording practices and acceptance standards to avoid recording delays and rejections.
A recent Florida transaction highlighted how important this issue can become. In that file, property was held by joint tenants with survivorship rights. After one owner passed away, the county would not accept the Affidavit of Deceased Joint Tenant for recording without the original death certificate or a certified copy. The issue arose when the borrower refused to provide the death certificate. Without the death certificate, the affidavit could not be recorded, the deceased owner’s interest remained outstanding in the public records, and title could not fully reflect vesting into the surviving joint tenant. As a result, the interest remained unresolved from an insurability standpoint.
This is important because recording the survivorship affidavit together with the death certificate helps transfer the deceased owner’s interest into the surviving joint tenant and updates the public chain of title accordingly, including assessor records. Although files may contain obituaries, family affidavits, or online notices, these documents generally do not replace the legal reliability of a certified death certificate for recording and underwriting purposes. In Attorney state that requires an opinion letter, it is always a requirement. While it may appear to be “just another condition,” the death certificate often becomes one of the most important documents needed to properly clear title and avoid future ownership or underwriting concerns.
If you have any questions or doubts regarding recording requirements involving death certificates, survivorship affidavits, or related estate documentation, we encourage you to reach out to your favorite escrow team for guidance.
We are constantly updating to reflect any increases or decreases in state fees or underwriter changes to ensure you are pulling accurate quotes each time. Our calculator has been updated to reflect fee changes in the following state(s):
-Kentucky
-Texas
-West Virginia
Conveniently get a quote any time, day or night, by simply and accurately inputting the required information and let our interactive fee calculator do the rest. Please call 844-808-8299 or email [email protected] for further details or for a quote.
Fraud Prevention
CRMP Certified – Advanced
Thursday, April 9, 2026
10:00 am PST
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Manufactured Homes
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
10:00 am PST
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StewartNow Property Profiles/How to Customize Data Lists with TitlePro 247
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
10:00 am PST
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