About The Koogler Group

Circle of Creation Desire fuels energy. Energy fuels purpose and intention. Purpose and intention fuels choice. Choice fuels words and actions. Words and Actions fuel creation. Creation fuels consequences. – Karen Koogler

The settlement services industry – real estate, mortgage lending, title insurance, closing and escrow services — is currently emerging from the longest boon period in U.S. history. Record low interest rates prompted record-high loan refinancing and new home sales. The upside of this period was the marked increase in settlement-related activity. The downside was a marked increase in industry violations — from over-charging of fees, unearned fees, and junk fees to kickbacks, paid referrals, and sham/shell affiliated business arrangements. The result has left the settlement services industry with a black eye, in form of consumer distrust and an increase in state and federal regulatory investigations which are resulting in fines and penalties against settlement services providers throughout the nation.

Our Philosophy

The settlement services industry has the collective ability and duty to restore the American Dream of affordable homeownership to the American public. Together we can achieve more.

Our Mission

Our mission is to illuminate, communicate, and cultivate a Five-Star Best Practices approach to doing business — one which focuses on the following elements:

• Regulatory Compliance
• Professional Ethics
• Extreme Customer Care
• Intra-Industry Cooperation
• Commitment to Personal Excellence

Our Vision

Our vision is of a single, seamless, settlement services industry, joined together by a commitment to Five-Star Best Practices. The key to future success is dependent upon our collective ability to maintain strong, lasting relationships with consumers, customers, coworkers, cohorts, collaborators, and other constituents, by adding value to the products and services we provide and conducting business from a value-based principled perspective.

Our Values

We believe in the importance of walking your talk — putting words into action — and we strive to conduct business in accordance with our values. What we do stems from who we are. The values which we hold inviolate include honesty, integrity, fairness, equity, empathy, respect, and compassion. These values are exemplified through our commitment to Five-Star Best Practices.

Our Commitment

We are committed to providing educational and motivational programs, products, and services which support people, personally and professionally. In other words, we stand ready to support who you are as well as what you do.

Strategic Direction

Our intention and purpose defines our direction. Our overarching focus is to promote Five-Star Best Practices and Community Building locally, at the grassroots level, and nationally, as a balanced alternative to federal regulatory reform. We believe — if settlement services providers are willing to elevate themselves beyond the letter of the law and embrace the spirit of the law — that a commitment to consumer protection via a level playing field, where all parties are treated equally, will empower the industry to deliver the American Dream to its rightful owners, our collective customers, the American public.