Hillsborough Title acquired Paramount Title Corp. and its staff Dec. 31. The merger puts the Hillsborough Title family of companies in the top 1% of title agencies in the state.
“We’re very excited,” said Aaron Davis, CEO and president of Hillsborough Title. “We are thrilled to be in business with such a well known and established company with a great reputation in the industry. They’re a family business, as well.”
Both companies were founded in 1984 and rose through the ranks in the Tampa Bay area.
Davis got to know Jim Farr, the founder of Paramount Title, through Florida Land Title meetings and industry-related seminars. They struck up a conversation about a merger at a trade show last summer.
“Jim Farr and his daughter, Rhia Winant, are both well known in the industry and well respected,” Davis said. “I’ve admired their company from a distance for years.”
Farr founded Paramount Title after serving as underwriting counsel for Chicago Title Insurance Co. He has more than 38 years of experience in the title insurance industry. A graduate of South Texas College of Law, he will serve as underwriting attorney for Hillsborough Title.
Winant joined Paramount Title Corp. in 2005, after gaining legal experience working with Chicago Title Insurance Co. With more than 10 years of real estate law experience, she has served as president of Paramount Title Corp. since 2010. A graduate of Stetson University College of Law, she will represent Hillsborough Title as legal counsel.
“We at Paramount Title Corporation are very excited about the merger of our title operations with Hillsborough Title,” Winant said. “We are proud of the 30-year history of both our companies and look forward to working with title professionals who share the same values and ethics that are so important in our industry.”
Hillsborough Title has about 90 employees. It has absorbed all 11 of Paramount Title’s employees.
“They have an experienced staff,” Davis said. “The acquisition will also give us a bigger presence in the Carollwood area and North Hillsborough. Our vision is a continued statewide expansion, and now with the added firepower that this merger provides, we have much greater depth of resources that most of our competitors do not possess.”
Hillsborough Title also has several other acquisitions in the works. But Davis did not name specific companies.
“We’re looking to expand in the Tampa Bay area with a bigger geographical footprint,” Davis said.
Hillsborough Title is also looking toward Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
Hillsborough Title
Hillsborough Title is a locally owned and operated, full-service title agency in the Tampa Bay area. Hillsborough Title is owned and operated by Aaron M. Davis, whose mother, Gail Calhoun, founded the company in 1984. The family, along with their managers, closers and title personnel, has helped Hillsborough Title become a leader in the industry and a cornerstone in the local real estate community. Visit htitle.com for more information.
Paramount Title Corp.
For nearly three decades, Paramount Title Corp. has served homebuyers, home sellers, builders and the real estate sales and mortgage lending communities throughout the Tampa Bay region, across Florida and nationwide by providing efficient, professional title services and closing and escrow services. Visit paramounttitlefl.com for more information.
