TITLE FIRMS CAN NO LONGER DODGE THAT DANGEROUS-LOOKING PAGE 3 OF THE HUD-1 SETTLEMENT STATEMENT. IT WILL SOON BE HERE. That's right , the Obama folks have embraced the Bush administration's RESPA reform package, including its revised Good Faith Estimate and a requirement that closing agents read page 3 to borrowers, slowly and out loud.

MORTGAGE EXECUTIVES BY THE HUNDREDS ANGLING TO START NEW FIRMS. Especially subprime firms. Each seems to have some new gimmick he's dying to try. It's as if the meltdown hadn't happened. All that's missing, of course, are investors ready to buy new mortgage-backed securities.

REFINANCES HIT 75% OF THE MIX. Never in the heady refi days of the Eighties or Nineties did refis account for such a high percentage of incoming orders. They're slow and tough to close, too, say title companies handling the closings.

BIG BANKS LOOKING GOOD, BUT NOT NECESSARILY FROM THEIR MORTGAGES Only Bank of America cited its Wachovia unit as the source of significant earnings this quarter, doing it with refis. The others are back into investment banking. Wonder what they're buying?

FEARS OF DEFLATION ALL AROUND WORRY THE ECONOMY With the fall of the Consumer Price Index, some think anything can happen. Prices of everything may fall, including real estate and settlement services.

DEATH OF CENTEX WAS NOT EXPECTED. It's described as a straight merger with no talk of distress, yet why would this once-leading home builder just fold with no explanation? 'Fold' is what it looks like. We have no inside knowledge and haven't examined the numbers, but this doesn't sound good. Title companies need to look closely at their builder connections and their builder business.

LOAN WAREHOUSING AND SUBPRIME SHOWING A LITTLE LIFE. Some believe it's the attraction of high-opportunity, high-revenue business, and also the attraction for low-end securities among certain risk-taking investors. This could be a significant development.

BUMPING ALONG THE BOTTOM? That's what some think the markets are doing. If so, recovery in real estate and the title business may be on just ahead. No one predicts it will be fast.

WILL THE TITLE BUSINESS CHANGE IN SOME MATERIAL WAY? Other financial services will use this meltdown as an opportunity to modernize themselves. The title industry has many things that need fixing.

CLAIMS PAYOUTS FALL AS FIDELITY GETS LOCAL OFFICES INVOLVED. It was simple, says Fidelity National, just take claims files away from HQ attorneys and send them back to the people who sent them in. This may have been a simple matter of canceling a previous directive ordering offices to send claims files into the home office.

SURGE IN REFIS BRINGS SIGNIFICANT RELIEF. An upsurge in refinance orders in December and January has given title companies something to work on and the promise of better results for the usually dismal months of January and February.

HOME PRICE DECLINES BRING INEVITABLE DROPS IN TITLE INSURANCE PREMIUMS. Home prices may be off as much as 20% in busy markets like California and Florida, taking title premiums down with them.

FIVE ARE NOW FOUR, CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS. Many felt five were too few, what will they think of four? LandAmerica staff people will all be in jeopardy. After unnecessary management and administrative personnel are eliminated, next will come redundant offices and their employees, both title and settlement. The loss of jobs will likely be in the thousands.