Company Overview
Passport Title is a Best Practices compliant title insurance agency and real estate settlement company exclusively focused on title agency partnerships.
Through our industry-first partnership model, we provide a turn-key platform for end-to-end settlement processing, title insurance, support operations and compliance functions. We serve attorneys, title agents and title agency owners, helping them achieve greater business success as part of a larger entity than they would alone.
With a growing footprint, Passport Title operates across a seven state region - Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia - and the District of Columbia. We provide support for commercial and residential transactions nationally through our underwriters.
We are a trusted service provider to over 300 national, regional and local lenders. Our lender relationships are built around sound risk management, quality controls and Best Practices compliance.
Passport Title is privately held and independent. This structure allows us to focus on and invest in serving the interests of our title agent partners. With no outside owners, we have no conflicting loyalties.
Contact us today to discuss how a partnership with Passport Title could be right for you.
Call: 240-542-1920
Email: partnerships@passporttitle.com
Our History
Since our founding in 2005, Passport Title has been known for helping attorneys, title agents and title agency owners succeed.
We broke ground in the business of real estate settlements when we pioneered a title agency partnership model in 2008 after the mortgage crisis. The collapse of the real estate market caused a significant reduction in settlement volume across the industry; many settlement providers could no longer afford staff and infrastructure. Passport Title innovated to provide title insurance agency and settlement processing services to the market. Our title company platform enabled settlement providers to continue in business profitably and participate in economies of scale.
A continuous improvement philosophy has kept Passport Title at the forefront of the industry. In 2016, Passport Title became one of only a small percentage of title companies across the country to achieve independent, third party certification of compliance with ALTA Best Practices.
Just as we were committed to helping title agents persevere during the housing market crisis, we’re equally prepared today to help our growing community of attorneys, title agents and title agency owners succeed in a landscape of increasingly complex regulations, costly technology requirements and heightened risk management.
Integrity, determination, innovation and leadership were at the core of our company in 2005, and they are values we continue to honor today.
Leadership
John R. H. Cotter | President and Chief Executive Officer
John has a demonstrated track record of innovation in the title industry having built business models that anticipate market changes. He was a pioneer of affiliated business arrangements in the Mid-Atlantic where he established over 50 RESPA-compliant title agencies.
After working in leadership positions for large, multi-state title companies, John founded Passport Title Services, LLC, in 2005. Recognizing a shifting landscape, early in 2008 he introduced an industry-first partnership model to support title agents who faced business challenges following the mortgage crisis. John has grown Passport Title’s client to a large community of attorneys, title agents and title agency owners who enjoy the benefits of Passport Title's platform for title insurance and real estate settlements.
John was born in Venezuela, raised in Bahrain and educated in England before coming to America, where he graduated from the University of Maryland.
John now works across seven states and the District of Columbia and calls South Carolina home. He is a licensed title producer.
Email: jcotter@passporttitle.com
Call: 240-542-1920
Connect: linkedin.com/in/john-r-h-cotter
Susan Kenney Cotter | Chief Growth Officer
Susan is a marketing strategist and profit and loss leader who builds, transforms and grows insurance businesses.
She has held officer level sales, marketing and product roles for leading insurance companies, including AIG and Colonial Life, helping them achieve growth and adapt to changing market environments. Susan also has experience in the legislative and regulatory arena thanks to her time working in Washington, DC on behalf of insurers and their customers.
Susan has a passion for leading and developing high performing teams. Read more here about her approach to leadership.
Susan is a graduate of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina and received her master’s degree from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. She is a licensed title producer.
Email: scotter@passporttitle.com
Call: 410-846-6611
Connect: linkedin.com/in/susan-kenney-cotter
Michael K. Rizk, Esq. | General Counsel
Mike is a licensed attorney with over 20 years of experience in the field of real estate law. His expertise was developed through hands-on experience with thousands of real estate transactions in the Mid-Atlantic states. He was formerly a partner in Redden and Rizk, P.A. until 1992, at which time he started his own law firm, Michael K. Rizk, P.A., and his own settlement company, USA Settlements, Inc.
In 2008, Mike merged his business with Passport Title and joined the organization as general counsel.
Mike is a graduate of Arizona State University and received his juris doctor from the University of Miami. He is a licensed title producer.
Email: mrizk@passporttitle.com
Call: 240-747-7072
Cheryl L. Gray | Settlement Processing Manager
A seasoned title professional, Cheryl has management responsibility for the title and settlement processing functions at Passport Title.
Cheryl began her career as a title processor in training, advancing to roles of increased responsibility based on her multi-state experience and technical expertise. Cheryl joined Passport Title in 2010 as a settlement processor and now leads the company's title and settlement processing functions.
She is a licensed title producer.
Email: cgray@passporttitle.com
Call: 240-667-7635
Connect: LinkedIn