ALTA ONE 2025 pulsed with the energy of Times Square. That was fitting, considering that this major conference for the title & escrow industry occurred just a few blocks from the iconic New York City landmark. 

Held October 7th to 10th at the New York Hilton Midtown, ALTA ONE drew a record-breaking number of attendees—approximately 1,300. Missed the conference? Qualia, which had a big contingent of team members on the scene, has you covered with five key takeaways.

1. AI is the industry’s future

From keynotes to water cooler chats, talk of artificial intelligence (AI) permeated ALTA ONE. A prevailing theme was that the fast-advancing technology is poised to dramatically transform title & escrow, accelerating efficiency, improving accuracy, empowering industry professionals, and even helping to attract the next generation of talent. 

Punctuating the AI interest, Qualia’s booth on the exhibit floor bustled with visitors keen to learn more about Qualia Clear, the company’s recently-launched agentic AI system built specifically for the complexities of title & escrow. “I’m incredibly optimistic about the opportunity that AI presents for our industry,” said Charlotte Brown, Vice President of Product & Design at Qualia. 

Brown was featured as a panelist on the education session “The AI Horizon: What’s Next for Real Estate and Title?” Panelists predicted that AI will swiftly evolve, automating rote processes in title & escrow and freeing up professionals to deliver more personalized customer service and to be vastly more productive. They gave tips too, including on change management: It’s incumbent on company leaders to provide the training, support, and opportunity for good experiences with AI that are necessary to get employees to embrace the game-changing technology. 

“Adoption is the key,” said panelist Calvin Powell, Chief Information Officer at Data Trace Information Services. “AI is about empowering you, not replacing you.”

Belief in the upsides of AI is growing: Qualia’s 2025 State of AI in Title & Escrow report shows that 58% of title & escrow professionals are now optimistic to very optimistic about the potential benefits of AI, a 14% increase from 2023.

2. The time to prepare for FinCEN is now

Talk about a forthcoming new FinCEN rule was everywhere at the conference. Industry professionals were focused on the practical steps necessary to prepare for and comply with this regulation, which applies to non-financed/cash transfers of residential real estate involving legal entities and trusts.

Quick background: At September’s end, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it was postponing reporting requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers Rule from December 1, 2025 until March 1, 2026. While a lawsuit is challenging the rule, the common belief at ALTA ONE was that this regulation is likely to hit the books. It’s a big deal, with estimates the regulation can impact upward of 850,000 transactions annually. 

At the conference, title & escrow professionals learned strategies for how they can best ready their companies for the rule and meet its requirements. Insights included:

  • Undertake an impact analysis that estimates how many transactions your title & escrow company conducts that are likely to be affected by the AML rule. This analysis should seek to understand potential changes to workflows and staffing levels that may be required to handle the reporting requirements. It should also evaluate cost impact, how technology can potentially help, and possible threats and opportunities.
  • Develop clear policies internally for addressing AML requirements. Update them as needed as time goes on. Also, provide robust staff support, including training on the rule, technology tools that may help team members navigate AML, standard operating procedures (with related quick guides) that integrate into workflows, scripts for personnel to use in discussing the rule with clients, and even educational materials for customers.
  • Know that settlement/closing agents have the primary reporting responsibility. Information that must be reported includes closing date, purchase price, party names, transferor and transferee details, and particulars about payment for transfer of real property. Reporting will be performed using FinCEN’s new Real Estate Report Form.
  • Understand when the required reporting information is due. That would be the last day of the month following a closing or 30 calendar days after the closing—whichever comes later.

3. Combatting more sophisticated fraud is a top priority

Losses from fraud continue to mount and digital criminals are becoming more sophisticated. Learning how to stay ahead of scam attempts and combat would-be swindlers were central to conversations and the agenda at ALTA ONE.

Conference attendees learned how online crooks are increasingly using deepfakes—AI-created videos, photos, and audio recordings that try to trick the unwitting into thinking a fraudster is actually a co-worker, boss, client, or other legitimate party. 

Still, title professionals are far from defenseless. They can spot red flags that can signal a scam. Those include a sense of urgency (“Wire now!”), sudden changes in communication channels, requests to rush or skip verification steps, and inconsistent tone in phrasing or formatting of communications. When red flags rise, it’s important to pause the transaction, verify the person’s identity using ALTA best practices, and loop in a colleague for a second opinion, ALTA attendees learned. Title & escrow companies should also report/document fraud attempts internally and educate team members.

Another powerful prevention tactic: Layer up your defenses with multi-factor authentication, identity verification tools and well-trained human experts. Qualia has suggested that the best strategy for fighting fraud may be a multi-layered defense that combines the distinct advantages and capabilities that humans and machines each bring to the table.

4. Helping top talent progress is an imperative

Even as technology streamlines processes, the lifeblood of title & escrow is its people. That’s why education sessions at ALTA ONE focused on attracting the next generation to the industry, as well as helping talented professionals already in the market advance their careers. The latter was the mission of the education session “From Operations Expert to Executive: Why the Leap Is Harder Than You Think—and How To Make It Work.” 

Panelists who dug into the topic were Elizabeth Wysong Berg, Vice President of Education and Training at FNF Family of Companies; Alex Brown, Qualia’s Senior Director of Strategic Engagements; and Tyler Lee, Principal, Strategic Engagements at Qualia.

The panelists stressed that what makes a professional successful as an operations expert is different from what makes a deft executive leader. 

“Operations experts tend to focus on control, immediate action, rigor in getting the details right, and optimizing processes,” said Brown. “Executives have to take a broader, longer-term approach. They need to excel at sifting through ambiguity to provide clear strategic direction, inspiring change, and empowering others.”

5. Bold & Bullish: ALTA’s new president, industry leaders and celebrity keynoters sought to inspire

David Townsend Esq. officially rose to the role of ALTA’s 2025-26 president at the conference. In a keynote kicking off his term, Towsend emphasized that title & escrow is the lynchpin that holds the real estate market together. He encouraged industry pros to embrace this and build on it. “We’re so much more than ‘title,’” Townsend said. “We are real estate data and finance.”

A separate keynote panel featured some of the industry’s most powerful C-Suiters: Carolyn J. Monroe, president and CEO of Old Republic National Title Ins. Co.; Mark Seaton, CEO of First American Title Insurance Company; Michael J. Nolan, CEO of FNF Family of Companies; and Fred Eippinger, CEO of Stewart Title Guaranty Company. While acknowledging challenges, the executives were generally bullish on title & escrow’s trajectory. “The market is going to improve,” said Seaton. “The next five years are going to be good.” 

Similarly, Townsend roused attendees to proactively meet the challenges of today and to pursue opportunities. “Sometimes success comes down to seizing the moment,” Townsend said. His message matched themes that celebrity speakers Barbara Corcoran and Rachel Dratch expressed. 

Dratch, the writer and actress perhaps best known for her work on Saturday Night Live, remarked that embracing pressure can help drive high performance during a Q&A with Townsend. Meanwhile, Corcoran, the famous real estate mogul and Shark Tank judge, encouraged attendees  to think outside the box and manufacture their company’s next wave of success. Challenging times present incredible opportunities to find new avenues to prosperity for your business, she said.

“Fortune,” said Townsend, “favors the bold.”