SKU: DEECS
Avail: Preorder
Mfg: The Koogler Group
Karen Koogler, CEO of The Koogler Group, has dedicated the majority of her 50-year career to creating meaningful regulatory compliance, prelicensing, and certification-level educational programs for title (settlement) agents in numerous states. She is the author of 31 industry textbooks covering job skills basics, FutureFocus business books, regulatory compliance, professional ethics, and various state and multi-state prelicensing and certification-level textbooks for title examiners and closing agents. Although the title (settlement) industry is quite small compared to the much larger casualty-based insurance industry, mortgage industry, and real estate industry, over the span of 40+ years since her first book was published, The Koogler Group has sold more than 250,000 textbooks. The Domino Effect marks her 32nd book.
In addition to her textbooks, Karen has developed more than 800-hours of industry programming throughout her career, and spent more than a decade providing indepth educational programs via her National Lecture Series. For the better part of 20 years she provided educational consulting, including new-business start-ups and creation of myriad affiliated business arrangements. In 2004, as demand for meaningful education grew, Karen set aside her consultancy practice and focused solely on industry education.
Karen’s entire life’s work is based on protecting consumers and, by extension, protecting the rights of small businesses to remain in business. Her advocacy efforts are embedded in regulatory compliance and professional ethics and laser-focused on the importance of maintaining a level playing field for all settlement services providers (real estate, mortgage, title, settlement).
In the past, maintaining a level playing field entailed creating educational programs and products focused on regulatory compliance; including but not limited to the ‘alphabet soup’ of GLBA, TILA, RESPA, and the TRID Rule. As an example, she wrote 300-page textbooks and created full-day implementation programs – delivered in-person to over 5000 title (settlement) agents, attorneys, and mortgage loan originators throughout the country – on the 2008 RESPA Final Rule and the 2015 TRID Rule. She also worked closely with various state and federal regulators on (primarily) RESPA compliance issues, providing seminars, textbooks, industry-audits, and educational support at no cost. During the Great Recession foreclosure crisis, she donated hundreds of copies of her 100-page Foreclosure Special Report to state and federal regulators.
Karen’s advocacy-through-education work continues today. Since the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, Karen has actively monitored regulatory initiatives that – based on decades of direct- industry experience – appear to be eroding the vital services provided by title (settlement) agents throughout the country. That was the catalyst for writing The Domino Effect textbook in 2022.
Since the March 2024 State of the Union Address – where the President pledged to “eliminate title insurance fees for federally backed mortgages” – followed by the FHFA and the CFPB announcing plans to aid that endeavor, Karen has resumed her role as an industry-leading educational consultant. Beginning with revamping The Domino Effect 2nd Edition textbook, to serve as a seminal guide for numerous ‘FutureFocus’ online educational programs; Karen continues offering advocacy-through-education support to state and federal regulators. In addition, she will begin accepting new industry-based clients seeking solutions during this period of change. Please email KarenKoogler@KooglerGroup.com for further information on customized services and fees.