Title Nerds

For the first episode of our fifth season, co-hosts Michael R. O’Donnell and Bethany A. Abele welcomed Jeffrey Leung, Senior Vice President and Chief Claims Counsel of WFG National Title Insurance Company. Jeff discussed the evolution of the title insurance industry based on his career experience handling claims for a national underwriter, running the gamut of “everything from A to Z – abstracts of title to zoning,” proving o...

We welcomed Nate Baker, CEO and Co-Founder of Qualia, a real estate closing platform, to the podcast. Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele explored with Nate how Qualia is transforming the real estate industry by converting manual workflows into intelligent, data-driven systems. Nate shared insights on how the platform makes property transfers both simpler and more secure, including a discussion of Qualia’s latest product, Qua...

Co-Hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele welcomed special guests from Balcony, a blockchain technology company that secures title and real estate data for governmental entities.  Daniel Silverman, the Co-CEO, Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, and Alexander McGee, the CRO, Co-Founder and Head of Government Affairs, engaged with Mike and Bethany in a fascinating discussion about how their company, founded in 2021, conver...

This episode of Title Nerds featured three of Riker Danzig’s summer associates and one of our title insurance associates, who expounded on principles of law in cases they had researched and reported on.

First up, Co-Host Mike O’Donnell interviewed Noah Wilk of University of Maryland Law School, who discussed Oclar Prop. LLC v. Atl. View Cemetery Assn., Inc., No. A-0834-23, 2023 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 746 (App. Div. M...

We kicked off the new season of Title Nerds with a deep-dive into wire fraud with our special guests John Gavigan, CEO of WireVault, which provides wire fraud prevention software, and Kinny Chan, Chief Commercial Officer of Trust Stamp, an identity verification company.  Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele discussed with John and Kinny the growing experience of lawyers and real estate professionals who are fending off fraudst...

Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele welcomed to the podcast special guest John Crowley, New Jersey State Counsel for Stewart Title Guaranty Company.  Among other things, John tracks legislative developments and case law affecting the title arena for Stewart Title, acting as liaison between all business units. He is also head of Stewart Title’s CLE programming.

John provided several nuggets of advice for title agents and poten...

Riker Danzig partners Stuart Lederman and Rudy Randazzo were our special guests for the 5th episode of  Season 3, moderated by our co-hosts Michael O’Donnell and Bethany Abele.  Stuart and Rudy practice in Riker’s Governmental Affairs and Litigation practices with extensive experience in Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law as well as Construction Law, regularly navigating issues of title, and frequently interacting with our title i...

Title Nerds co-hosts Michael O’Donnell and Bethany Abele talked with special guest Jeffrey Greif, a seasoned real estate title sales professional with 37 years’ experience, most of which has been with First American Title Insurance Company, with which he is a four-time Circle of Excellence award winner.  Jeffrey explained why title insurance is necessary, to confirm that “the property you think you are buying is actually the proper...

Co-hosts Michael O’Donnell and Bethany Abele welcomed special guest Scott Sumner, Vice President and Underwriting Counsel of Fidelity National Financial, who has played various roles in his 21-year career, including serving as NJ State Counsel and NJ State Manager for the business operations.

Scott provided insights as to what title agents can do to get their deals closed efficiently, including urging agents to raise potential issu...

Riker Danzig partners Jim Lott and Diane Hickey were our special guests for the second episode of Season 3, moderated by our co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele.  Jim and Diane practice in Riker’s Governmental Affairs practice with extensive experience in Land Use law, regularly dealing with disputes over title, and continually interacting with planning boards and the Department of Transportation at the intersection of title ...

Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele kicked off the third season of Title Nerds by welcoming special guest Bushnell Nielsen, author of the well-regarded treatise Title and Escrow Claims Guide, which Mike and Bethany noted they and every title insurance attorney in the country regularly refer to. Bush provided tips on finding and working with expert consultants for title insurance cases, from hiring to trial.

He gives his insig...

Special guest Anton Tonev, co-founder of Inspect HOA, joined us for our final episode of Season 2 of Title Nerds. Drawing from his own experience as a member of an HOA, he built this business for real estate professionals and buyers who need to deal with homeowners associations. With 400,000 HOAs in the U.S. and no central database of HOAs, his business has established a niche service, including hoa.com, to assist buyers, attorneys...

Forensic title expert Joe Grabas was our special guest for Episode 5 of our second season of Title Nerds, joining co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele.  Joe is a certified title professional, and the Director and Chief Instructor of the Grabas Institute for Continuing Education.  He is also the author of “Owning New Jersey: Historic Tales of War, Property Disputes & the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Mike asked Joe to talk about t...

Our special guest for Episode 4 of our second season of Title Nerds was land title attorney Lance Pomerantz of Land Title Law.  An attorney who provides expert consultant services to the title insurance and real estate industry, Lance shared some very interesting war stories from his “accidental career.”  He has researched land grants back to the Royal Charter, as well as underwater land grants and title disputes involving numerous...

Surveyor Keith Ludwig, PLS was the special guest for this episode of Title Nerds, in which he discussed with co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele his experience of over 42 years in the industry.  With a specialty in researching ancient deeds and surveys, Keith shared some of the more fascinating matters he has encountered while conducting land surveys, including serving as a surveyor for a defendant in Atlantic County where ti...

For our second episode of the new season, Title Nerds co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele interviewed Steve Gottheim, General Counsel of the American Land Title Association (“ALTA”).  Steve discussed some of the primary issues of concern to ALTA and its members, including housing recession possibilities, public policy issues around increased access to affordable housing and, generating the most conversation, real estate and w...

Title Nerds is excited to begin its second season of exploring title insurance and real estate litigation issues that Riker Danzig attorneys see in our practice.  In this first episode of the new season, co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele enjoyed drawing on insights from one of our esteemed Of Counsel, New Jersey title insurance guru Vince Sharkey.  Vince provided entertaining conversation about his journey into and through ...

Title Nerds co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele welcomed two partners from our Environmental Practice In Episode 9, Alexa Richman-La Londe and Steve Senior.  Alexa and Steve discussed the hot real estate market in New Jersey for commercial/industrial properties, which are frequently environmentally impaired and require remediation.  This led to an interesting conversation about the use and mechanics of NJDEP’s Deed Notices th...

In Episode 8 Riker Danzig welcomed two professionals from Qualia, a digital real estate closing platform that is changing the industry.  Lyman Hopper, a long-time title insurance pro, and Tim Calandro, a senior account executive, spoke with hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele about why title and escrow companies are turning to digital platforms to better serve their clients.  They explained that, in addition to helping professio...