Key Title Company

222 High Street SE

Salem, Or 97301

Phone:  503-585-1881

Key Title Company was formed in 1965 by Kenneth (Bud) A. Holmes & Associates as an escrow only company with a goal of providing quick, friendly, and customer-driven service to clients in the mid-Willamette Valley. In 1976, the State of Oregon licensed the Salem-based company to issue title insurance, and Bud Holmes continued expanding the company to better meet customers’ needs for wide geographic coverage. Today, Key Title serves 12 Western counties with 25 conveniently located offices.

Key Title is Oregon’s largest, family-owned-and-operated title company. We have an experienced, hard-working staff of professionals dedicated to providing the most effective and efficient services to the real estate industry. We accomplish this through ongoing investment in the most advanced computer and communication network in the industry including Electronic Data Interchange, E-mail, optical scanning and storage, and the Internet.

Key Title provides our customers the combined advantages of local ownership and direction with nationally-backed underwriting provided by Chicago Title & Trust Company, one of the nation’s largest title insurers. Accessible Key leaders and managers mean decisions are made quickly. We are proactive in solving problems and developing creative solutions to ensure our customers’ success.

Key Title Company serves 12 counties with 25 office locations throughout Western Oregon. We provided title, escrow, contract services, and 1,031 exchange services in the entire state of Oregon through our direct operations or through agreements with other local companies. Key Title can also place and manage your title order needs anywhere in the United States.

Ticor buys Key Title – 2003

Ticor Title Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF), announced Friday it is buying Key Title Co. of Salem.

Key Title operates 26 offices in 12 counties in western Oregon and generated more than $20 million in revenue in 2002. It does not have offices in Portland or Eugene. The cash transaction, for an undisclosed sum, is scheduled to close on March 31.

“This acquisition supports our ongoing strategic commitment to grow the Ticor Title brand,” said FNF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William P. Foley II. “The Key Title operations in western Oregon will significantly enhance both Ticor’s direct operations and its referral network in the Oregon market.”

Back

Compiled by Michael R. Ferris, Key Title Company, 1999

American City Business Journal, March 28, 2003

This article originally appeared on the original Salem Online History site and has not been updated since 2006.