Articles

In 1920, my grandfather began working in the title business for a company called Title Insurance Corporation of St. Louis. He was mentored by McCune Gill, who was eventually named president of the American Land Title Association in 1937. My grandfather, Morris Holden went on to open his own agency and sell title insurance through…

As you may know, my family owned and operated a title agency in the St. Louis, Missouri, area from 1937 to 1973. In 1973, that company was purchased by Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company and became their “direct offices” in the state. During those 36 years, we had many successful marketing and sales techniques that…

As a title man growing up in Missouri, I have been familiar with the name McCune Gill all my working life. Mr. Gill had a tremendous influence on my family, the title insurance business and the real estate industry at large. Any title person from St. Louis surely recognizes the name McCune Gill as the…

Did you ever look at a meets and bounds legal description and wonder how many acres it contained? Or if the legal description properly ‘closed’? My father can, and he is the only title person I have ever met who has that skill. Very few children who enter their parent’s profession ever exceed the skill…

According to the United States Department of Labor, there are about 175,000 people working in the title industry across the U.S. Each one of those people has a story to tell. This industry, this job, this career, no one chooses it. They come to it because of a funny twist of fate led them to…