Settleware ‘No Brainer’ blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ____________________________________________________________________________________

WILKES COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® ‘INKS’ DEAL WITH SETTLEWARE®

Innovative ‘Pay As You Go’ e-Signing Benefits All Real Estate Association Members

North Wilkesboro, NC  - August 8, 2011  – Settleware Secure Services, Inc., the pioneering e-Sign leader to the Real Estate Industry, is pleased to announce that Wilkes County Association of REALTORS® (WCAR) has licensed both its innovative e-Signature technology and US patent for the benefit of all WCAR members.

“We are pleased to partner with Wilkes County Association of REALTORS® and its’ visionary leadership to provide relevant e-Signing technology to all Association members, enabling each member to take their business to the next level” says 30 year real estate veteran and Settleware President & CEO, C. Richard Triola

“The Wilkes County Association of REALTORS® is proud to add Settleware e-Signing as a membership benefit to our REALTOR® members.  e-Signing is a safe, quick method of signing documents that will assist our agents and clients with their transactions.  Providing Settleware e-Signing as part of our Wilkes County Association of REALTORS®  membership,  not only enhances the professionalism of our members, but also provides their clients with a secure, fast method of signing documents ” stated Viva Aldrich, Executive Officer, Wilkes County Association of REALTORS®.

Over the past decade Settleware has been leading the charge to deliver the first and only real estate electronic and paperless transaction – from opening to closing – completely over the Internet. “We realize there were several choices available and appreciate the Wilkes County Board’s extensive due diligence and selection of our unparalleled e-Signing service, expertise and offering,” Triola continued.

“We fully understand these trying times and the challenges that our real estate colleagues face on a daily basis. With this offering, no Agent will be left behind and all will have the immediate benefit of processing legally binding, compliant documents in real time – more efficiently meeting critical time frames and eliminating the heavy paper use they currently experience with each and every transaction.  It’s hard enough these days to close a transaction without having to chase documents and signatures not only across the county, but also to clients who live out of town, out of state, or may be away on vacation or business.  With technology such as Settleware e-Sign, the business of buying and selling real estate continues as easily as it would if all parties were sitting together in the same room” continued Aldrich.

 ABOUT SETTLEWARE

Created by REALTORS® Settleware Secure Services, Inc. has been spearheading the initiative to facilitate a complete electronic and paperless real estate transaction over the Internet since 1999.  Today, Settleware is the leading provider of e-Signatures, e-Notarization and e-Recording workflow to the Real Estate/Mortgage Industry and offers the Nations first and only patented and complete electronic real estate/ mortgage transaction, from the initial purchase offer contract – to Escrow/Settlement – to the County Recorder – to the Secondary Investor.  Settleware has served as the catalyst for a pure end–to-end pure electronic and paperless real estate/escrow transaction, spending years collaborating with Industry pioneers and experts to gain Industry wide ‘buy-in’. Settleware is the first and only e-Sign solution provider that has been certified by County Recorders (e-Recording), Secretaries of State (e-Notary), Fannie Mae (e-Notes) and MERS e-Registry (e-Vault), Wells Fargo (e-Disclosures) and One West Bank. (e-REO)

The company offers a secure signing solution that provides document tamper sealing, roles and permissions access and secure digital encryption algorithms that can authenticate the source of a digital signature as “valid” while providing one of the Industry’s first certified e-Vaults. The company’s innovative and patented software, offered as a service subscription-based model (SaaS), seamlessly connects all participants and contracts in the real estate/escrow/mortgage transaction. Settleware is offered through MLS, REALTOR® Associations and Broker-owned companies to benefit over 1 million members nationwide. To learn more how Settleware can take your business to the next level call 888.632.3833, email info@settleware.com or visit www.settleware.com.  Join the discussion by subscribing to the Settleware’s blog at www.settleware.com/blog and become a Friend on Facebook.

 ABOUT WILKES COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

The Wilkes County Association of REALTORS^® strives to be the premier trade association dedicated to the professional development of its membership.

The purpose of the Wilkes County Association of REALTORS^® is to encourage professionalism through information and resources to better develop, support, protect and guide both members and clients.  This is the result of innovative programs, locally focused services and advocacy for ethical business practices and individual property rights for all Wilkes County citizens. WCAR is constantly striving to set the bar on high quality care and attention to detail in each and every real estate transaction.  If you decide to be a Buyer or Seller here in Wilkes County, WCAR members take very seriously their role in assisting you with your real estate property needs.  For more information, please visit www.wilkescountync.com.

Contact:

C. Richard Triola                                                                                 Viva Aldrich

Rick@settleware.com                                                                         wcar@wilkescountync.com

2901. W. Coast Highway, Suite 200                                                     717 Main Street

Newport Beach, CA 92663                                                                   North Wilkesboro, NC 28659

949.289.3299                                                                                      336.667.9331

We’re excited to be in Woodland, CA for the December 1^st launch and training for all members of the Yolo County Association of Realtors (YAR).

Veteran real estate and Settleware founder Rick Triola will also be on hand as YAR becomes the first REALTOR Association in the nation to offer FREE e-Signing and patent protection as a benefit to all members.

 by Rick Triola, Settleware Founder

Recently, I was asked “WHY do you do what you do?” my first reaction – WOW what a great question! (Needed to stall a bit so I come up with some ‘genius’) Actually, I didn’t have to dig to deep-we live our passion every day.

Back in the late 90′s and after 25 years of selling real estate, I made a leap to the escrow/settlement side of the business. We needed to come up with a competitive differentiator. At the same time the Internet was coming into its‟ own and I thought” Wouldn‟t it be great if we remove the stress and friction associated with largest transaction most consumers would ever be involved in and connect all parties and documents over the Internet?” By giving back both the escrow officer and agent a „lifestyle‟ change and not having to chase signatures and documents all over town (and sometimes the World when clients were traveling) this would surely be a „Game Changer‟ (name of the book I co-authored to be released in November, 2010). Because of our domain experience we understood that we would need to start with „the end in mind‟ and by getting „Buy-in‟ along the way. We also knew this would be a tremendous challenge as there are so many entities/parties that are involved in the transaction; Buyers, Sellers, Borrowers, Agents, Lenders, Title, County Recorders, Notaries, Secondary Investors and Escrow/Settlement/Closing agents.

When we initially approached lenders extolling e-signature benefits they quickly grasped that this was a „No Brainer‟ but the response also included „If you get Title to issue Insurance against the process and Fannie Mae to buy the electronic Promissory Notes – I‟m in! When we spoke to Title they said “great idea-if you get the County Recorder to accept these e-Signed docs – we‟re in! You guessed it – County Recorder‟s said „if you get approval from the Attorney General” and Notaries said “if you receive the nod from the Secretary of State” – no problem. So, for nearly 8 years we have spent each and every day checking these players off the list. Thankfully, along the way, President Clinton signed the e-Sign Act which gave us standing and validation.

In 2004, we became the first company to go live with e-Signing, e-Notary, e-Recording and in 2007 we added „Certified by MERS e-Registry and selling e-Notes to Fannie Mae‟. Still today we are the ONLY e-sign Solution provider that has taken the time and spent the resources to deliver this Compliant End-to-End Solution. (One of our e-Sign competitors continues to boast that they have spent over $3o million of venture capital – just to deliver an email signature and none

of the above!) The process is so unique that we received a patent in the US and Australia! (Patents pending in the US, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and the EU)

We plodded through, worked with Industry leaders and pioneers, and we never looked back-WHY? Because our mission from day one was to streamline the entire real estate/mortgage transaction and have become the first and only platform that can boast a TRUE end-to-end transaction over the internet-No Faxing, No Scanning and No Paper!

Next question, “This has taken nearly 10 years to gain Buy-In and to develop – besides your clear Vision to Disrupt the way future RE/Escrow transactions would be processed – where did you get the perseverance to sustain yourself, especially in a industry without any Early Adopters? Another great question…”We believed that if given a chance to legally sign/execute documents/contracts over the Internet why would any escrow/closing agent or REALTOR® want to drive all over town chasing signatures and documents to open or close a transaction. It just made to0 much sense – what professional would not want to be tethered to a fax machine, scanner or worst yet to an expensive overnight carrier” (OOPS – sorry we closed at 5pm)

So here we are today, introducing e-Signing to the folks that „Start‟ the entire process-REALTORS® and Escrow Officers. It didn‟t make much sense to get these pros on Board until we received total Acceptance from all the parties afore-mentioned. Since we have now trained thousands of Agents we are being asked “what Escrow/Settlement companies are processing escrow related docs electronically?” These‟ early adopter‟ agents are now anxious to complete the entire process electronically since they have introduced e-Signing to their Consumers and now to have to Open escrow with a company that is still so 90‟s – nothing more frustrating to have to now go back to original paper and Wet-signing!

We have now come full circle, Escrow companies have now been licensing our patent and technology and it won‟t be long before we see the „tipping‟ point where every real estate transaction will be processed over the Internet- in minutes vs. days!

We are currently embracing REALTORS®, MLS/Associations, Board of Realtors, Escrow Officers and Brokers to join our Cause to truly „Make a Difference-One e-Signature at a Time!‟- that„s WHY we do what we do every day and enjoy every minute of it!

October, 2010

C. Richard Triola, President & CEO, Founder
Settleware® Secure Services, Inc.
www.settleware.com