Joint venture revolution.

USTA, LLC and Consolidated Information Services have announced a joint venture, USTA-CIS LLC. As of September 1, USTA-CIS LLC will provide comprehensive web-based information and administration services to the real estate industry. These technologies, which significantly accelerate and demystify the entire real estate transaction process, will be available to CIS clients through LandIT.com, a USTA e-commerce site.

Rogelio Santos, Jr., chief executive officer of USTA, said, "This new relationship with CIS enables us to accelerate the evolution of our web-based technologies as we continuously adapt to changing client needs and market expectations. Through our combined efforts, anyone involved in a real estate transaction--whether a lender, broker or a buyer--will be able to access and act on information faster and with greater confidence than ever before. This is a potential revolution in the real estate transaction experience."

USTA has already developed and launched web-based systems that streamline the real estate transaction process, Land Information Technology and ReadiClose.

LandIT is considered a window to real estate information and transaction management for the title industry. It allows all parties involved to place and track title orders online, get status updates and messages, request automatic email notifications, view digital reports, control access to orders and perform fast and easy searches. The system also allows instantaneous cross-vendor collaboration.

ReadiClose, designed as an extension of the LandIT, expands workflow to include borrowers. Borrowers access a user-friendly site that explains each step in the borrowing and buying process, provides current ransaction status and access to documents specific to their loan. Fully armed with up-to-date information they can easily understand, borrowers feel more confident about the process and better prepared for the actual closing day.

Commenting on the joint venture with CIS, Santos explains, "USTA is always looking for strategic partners, but they have to be entities that appreciate and value technology's role in the evolution of the business. CIS is equally oriented to the vital role of technology and the importance of instant access to information. Their mindset and values complement ours perfectly."

Nancy Fedich, chief executive officer of CIS, is enthusiastic about the alliance as well.

This is an important step toward offering our clients a more comprehensive range of web-based order management products. In our industry, it's critical to offer bundled services to stay competitive. Mortgage brokers order the vast majority of credit reports and, until now, the missing link in our product mix has been the title component. With access to USTA's proprietary products--ReadiClose and LandIT--we're able to deliver a more complete package. And because they are Internet driven, we can seamlessly incorporate these products with our existing web-based services to deliver a true 'one-stop shop' experience."