Company Overview
Passport Title is a Best Practices compliant title insurance agency and real estate settlement company exclusively focused on title agency partnering.
Through our industry-first model, we provide a turn-key title company platform for attorneys, title agents and title agency owners. Our platform includes end-to-end settlement processing, title insurance agency management and support operations.
We help our title agent partners serve their clients and develop business with less workload, risk and expense. Contact us today to learn how you can participate, too.
A growing footprint
Passport Title provides title agency partnering solutions across seven states – Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia – and the District of Columbia. We have a national reach to support commercial and residential real estate transactions through underwriter relationships.
Email us today to learn more about our growth plans and how we can support your state, too.
Trusted service provider to lenders
We are an approved settlement provider to over 300 national, regional and local lenders – from global brands to community banks. Our lender services are built around sound risk management, quality controls and Best Practices compliance.
Call us at 240-542-1920 to learn more about how we protect lender interests.
No conflicting loyalties
Passport Title is privately held and independent. This structure allows us to focus on and invest in serving attorneys, title agents and title agency owners who do business through us. With no outside owners, we have no conflicting loyalties.
Reach-out for a conversation about our business philosophy. We'd like to hear from you.
Contact us today to discuss how partnering with Passport Title could be right for you.
Call: 240-542-1920
Email: partnerships@passporttitle.com
Our History
Passport Title was established in 2005 as a traditional title company.
We broke ground in 2008 when we pioneered a title agency partnering model in response to the global financial crisis. The collapse of the real estate market caused a significant reduction in settlement volume across the industry, straining stand-alone infrastructure and staffing models.
Passport Title innovated to provide a cost effective title company platform for attorneys and title agents, enabling them to share resources and participate in economies of scale. Based on this success, we extended our model to serve title agency owners who operate under our brand or a proprietary brand. Call us today at 240-542-1920 to learn more about our story. We would be honored to help you, too.
Ahead of the curve
Continuous improvement has kept Passport Title at the forefront of the industry. Each year we deliver advancements in technology, capabilities and processes to stay ahead of emerging trends.
Early in our history, we built remote working capabilities. Our long-established competency in managing functions and teams without the requirement of physical proximity has many advantages. It supports robust business continuity that enables us to operate without disruption when faced with events such as natural disasters and pandemics. It helps us attract and retain the right talent. And, it enables us to provide services cost effectively across a growing geography.
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.
In 2020, we implemented digital closing capabilities to meet consumer preferences, whether they be a traditional office closing, a mobile closing or an online closing.
Also in 2020, we launched private label capabilities. Attorneys, title agents and title agency owners who join Passport Title can perform closings under their own brand name or the Passport Title brand. While many clients prefer to do business as Passport Title to reflect their association with a large title company, we can also support requests to combine the power of our platform with the strength of a proprietary brand.
And, that's just the beginning. Contact us to learn more about how we future-proof our business.
Stronger together
The pace of marketplace change is accelerating. The business landscape is increasingly complex and costly. New risks present themselves each day, and the age old concerns around seasonality and interest rate sensitivity persist. We meet these challenges stronger together.
Email us to learn how you can participate, too.
Steadfast values
While our business changes to meet new needs, our values remain the same. Integrity, determination, innovation and leadership were at the core of our company in 2005, and they are values we continue to honor today.
If a values-orientation is important to you in your choice of a title company, let’s talk. Call us at 240-542-1920 for a conversation.
Contact us today to discuss how partnering with Passport Title could be right for you.
Call: 240-542-1920
Email: partnerships@passporttitle.com
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 companies.
After working in leadership positions for large, multi-state title companies, John founded Passport Title in 2005. Recognizing a shifting landscape, early in 2008 he introduced an industry-first partnering model to support attorneys and title agents who faced business challenges following the global financial crisis. John has grown Passport Title’s client base from an initial group of attorneys in Maryland to a large and growing community of attorneys, title agents and title agency owners across multiple states.
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.
Call John: 240-542-1920
Connect with John: linkedin.com/in/john-r-h-cotter
Email John: jcotter@passporttitle.com
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 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.
Call Susan: 410-846-6611
Connect with Susan: linkedin.com/in/susan-kenney-cotter
Email Susan: scotter@passporttitle.com
Michael K. Rizk, Esq. | General Counsel
Mike is a licensed attorney with extensive 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.
Call Mike: 240-747-7072
Email Mike: mrizk@passporttitle.com
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.
Call Cheryl: 240-667-7635
Email Cheryl: cgray@passporttitle.com