As the second oldest title company in Chattanooga, Milligan Reynolds Guaranty Title Agency has archives nearly as extensive as the registrar, says majority owner Valerie Epstein.
“If you bought and sold property through Milligan Reynolds, we probably have your records,” she says.
Founded by Dana Milligan, Sr., and Mark Senter in 1938 as Milligan Senter Guaranty Title Company, Milligan Reynolds has been in business a long time. While some might view the company in high regard for its record of service over the years, others could think less favorably about an aged business whose archives need to be handled with care.
“When you’ve been around for 76 years, people tend to think you’re old,” says Epstein. “But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Rather than being content with doing things the old way, Milligan Reynolds is keeping pace with advances in the title industry by implementing cutting edge software, mobile closings, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau compliance.
“We’ve been around a while, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t gone high tech or mobile,” Epstein says. “We’re doing some really cool new things.”
Among these “hip innovations” is the company’s closing software, RamQuest, which not only allows Milligan Reynolds to handle closings electronically but also encrypts the data. “We’ve spent a lot of money upgrading the technology, and every year, we pay more to make sure our software is upgraded and our license is renewed,” Epstein says.
Milligan Reynolds has also secured a new backup service: Carbonite, named after the fictional substance used to freeze Han Solo in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” Available to Windows and Mac users, Carbonite stores documents, emails, settings, and more on remote servers.
Both the data encryption and the backup service are steps Milligan Reynolds took to become CFPB complaint. Epstein picks up a printout of the CFPB’s rules and guidelines - a stack of paper thicker than a Yellow Pages before the dawn of the Internet - and drops it over her desk. It lands with a “thud.”
“By the end of this year, every title company will have to be compliant with this,” she says. “We’re already compliant.”
Epstein is especially proud of her company’s mobile closings, which she calls “Starbucks closings.
“Large commercial bankers like us to come to them to close because they get to keep their customer in-house,” she says. “We can do a closing anywhere there’s secure WiFi, including Starbucks. If you want to close at your mortgage company, we’ll come there.
“Our scanner can scan 250 legal sheets in two minutes. We can get everyone’s signature, scan them in, send everything to the funding institution, and we’re done. It’ll even print the checks.”
While having the technical foundation needed to serve clients in this day and age is important, a company must also attract the clients it hopes to serve. To that end, Epstein and company have come up with two decidedly non-techie ways of luring new business.
One is preferred partner perks. If a Realtor does a considerable amount of business with Milligan Reynolds, the company will allow the agent to place links to his or her properties on its website.
Also, Milligan Reynolds, in partnership with SunTrust Mortgage, will soon begin hosting a Realtor event dubbed “Market and Mingle Chattanooga,” a breakfast meeting during which agents are given a few minutes to talk about a particular listing in the hopes another Realtor has a client looking for such a property.
(The first Market and Mingle will take place Thursday, Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. at the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chattanooga. RSVP to marketandminglechattanoooga@gmail.com with the MLS number and the address of the property you want to feature.)
Two years after the launch of Milligan Senter, the company was renamed Milligan Reynolds when Mercer Reynolds, Sr., acquired a majority interest in the company. Epstein, an attorney with an extensive background in real estate law, acquired majority ownership of Milligan Reynolds in April after a board member suggested she and the title agency would be a good fit.
“Milligan Reynolds used to dominate the commercial market in Chattanooga. I saw an opportunity to bring that business back in house,” she says. “It was a win-win. I could bring my expertise to the table, and they could bring theirs.”
Epstein will serve as president and CEO, and provide underwriting and legal services for the commercial escrow team. She joins three other attorneys, including Rick McInturff, Emily McGauley, and Vicky Berghel, a senior real estate attorney who has helped with multi-million dollar closings for Sears, Belk, and CBL.
McInturff, an attorney with the company since 1975, will continue to support the legal team with underwriting and legal services to the residential escrow teams. Doris Peak, a 40-plus-year veteran of Milligan Reynolds, will serve as chief operating officer, and oversee the day-to-day operations of the company. She and Mary Beth Bode, a seasoned real estate paralegal, are also licensed underwriters for First American.
Epstein has practiced law in Chattanooga for more than 17 years, having served as in-house counsel at Unum/Provident and more recently as the owner of The Epstein Law Firm, which specializes in corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, commercial medication and arbitration, and real business matters such as trademark/intellectual property and wills/estates.
Epstein grew up on Lookout Mountain, attended Girls Preparatory School, graduated from Emory University, and obtained her law degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She’s licensed to practice in Federal and State courts in Tennessee and Georgia, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Supreme Court. She’s received numerous awards and recognitions for her professional and civic services.
Epstein is looking forward to many years of serving Chattanooga in the title market. She’s excited not just to be a part of a company with a long tradition of service, but also one that’s forward thinking. In time, her name could become part of the Milligan Reynolds legacy. But for now, there’s work to be done.
“Milligan Reynolds is ahead of the curve,” she says,” and will continue to be. That’s why we’re still here after 76 years.”