Area credit unions join to launch CU Community Title Company LLC

Submitted

CU Community and Credit Union Services of East Tennessee, or CUSET, have teamed up to launch CU Community Title Company LLC, effective January 2, 2015.

The joint venture represents a groundbreaking collaboration between East Tennessee’s most successful subsidiaries of ORNL Federal Credit Union and Y-12 Federal Credit Union, both headquartered in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

“Title companies are a natural extension of the mortgage business,” said Ron Honeycutt, CUSET chairman. “Y-12 FCU and ORNL FCU are two of the area’s largest and most successful mortgage providers. Forming a title company gives us added flexibility in meeting the mortgage needs of our respective membership, while ensuring they receive the best value, convenience, and peace of mind.”

“Our credit unions provide the absolute best mortgage services available in the marketplace and adding title services allows us to take full ownership of our members’ experience,” said Mark Ziegler, president and chief executive officer of Y-12 Federal Credit Union.

Chris Johnson, president and CEO of ORNL Federal Credit Union added, “By forming our own title company, we now can be sure the same outstanding service is provided all the way through closing.”

“Collaboration between two of the state’s largest credit unions represents the next step in the financial cooperative. As credit unions, we innately understand the value proposition to the consumer,” said Larry Jackson, CU Community’s president. “And as cooperatives, we understand the power of collaboration for the greatest possible good for the membership. It’s all about people helping people.”

The press release said title companies research property records to ensure the purchaser legally owns the property and that no one else can claim full or partial ownership of the property. During this research, the title company also verifies that there are no outstanding mortgages, liens, judgments, or unpaid taxes associated with the property, as well as any restrictions, easements, leases, or other issues that might impact ownership.