Old Republic, whose title insurance underwriting unit is a part of a larger firm that also has a general insurance line, did end up with lower pretax operating income.

Meanwhile, the title industry came under attack in the first quarter from the White House and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is pushing a pilot program that would waive the requirements for a lender policy on certain refinancings.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reportedly considering making lenders pay for their portion of the title policy.

Fidelity National Financial CEO Mike Nolan, on his company's earnings call, fired back. "While we strongly support the broader effort to make homeownership more affordable, we believe the recent comments from the FHFA and the CFPB relative to title insurance are misguided and display a misunderstanding of the vital role in value that title insurance provides consumers and the broader economy and the critical role it plays in helping to make the American dream of homeownership a reality."

The CEOs at First American, Ken DeGiorgio, made similar statements during its earnings call.

But Carolyn Monroe, president and CEO of Old Republic National Title Holding Co., took a more measured approach on parent company Old Republic International's call.

"We would characterize these developments as early stage and still subject to much debate and lobbying," Monroe said. "But considering the recent press, we wanted to note that we are tracking these developments and at this time, do not anticipate any significant implications for our business."

Later in the call, Craig Smiddy, president and CEO of Old Republic International added that the company was working with the American Land Title Association on these developments.

"It may change who pays for something…whether it's the borrower or the lender," Smiddy said. "But we don't see it materially impacting the business because at the end of the day, in order for a lender to sell a mortgage in the secondary market, they're going to need title insurance."

At the same time, the head of the nation's largest mortgage lender, United Wholesale Mortgage chief executive Mat Ishbia reiterated his prior comments about the product during the company's earnings call on May 9.

"The title insurance business itself is one of those parts of the industry that are ripe for disruption," Ishbia said in response to a question. "Charging consumers a lot of money for a product that doesn't require a lot of cost and so, reality is that's going to get disrupted at some point."

UWM partners with title companies and the product isn't going to go away, Ishbia continued.

"They're going to be part of the industry and they do great things, but there is going to be some disruption going to some movement, because there's a better way to do things for consumers," Ishbia said. "A lot of people look at it and we're one of those people that look at it."

Here are the first quarter results for the publicly traded title insurers: