Ticor Title extends footprint

Ticor Title Co. of Nevada Inc. isn’t actively looking for more acquisitions after it bought Northern Nevada Title Co., but Ticor and its parent company are leaving the door open for further growth.

Reno-based Ticor Title and its parent company, Fidelity National Financial, acquired Northern Nevada Title Co. in November. It continues to operate offices in Carson City and Gardnerville under the Northern Nevada Title flag.

“This was an opportunity for us to acquire a company that didn’t need to be fixed,” says Steve Schiller, president of Ticor Title of Northern Nevada. He also manages the Northern Nevada Title operations.

Ticor purchased Northern Nevada Title from Lanette Inman and Ron Peterson. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Inman, an escrow officer, will continue to work for the company. Peterson will serve in a consulting role.

Schiller said Ticor Title of Nevada’s strategy has focused on expansion of its geographic reach since it was founded in 2004.

Northern Nevada Title serves four counties — Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Carson City. It handles primarily residential re-sale transactions, although it has handled some work in new-home sales and commercial real estate.

While Ticor and Northern Nevada Title will operate separately, Schiller said some efficiencies of scale already are apparent. Office supplies — and title companies use a lot of them — can be purchased with the buying power of Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 company headquartered at Jacksonville, Fla.

Those efficiencies are likely to grow, he said, as the federal law that establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tightens the legal standards on title companies.

The regulation, for instance, sets tight standards on privacy of consumers’ personal data.

“That’s all stuff that’s expensive to do,” Schiller says.

The 15 employees of Northern Nevada Title join the 45-person staff of Ticor’s Reno office.