30 Years of Exchanges: A Time for Reflection

by Maura Snabes, Esq., CES, NTP

January 2025

Corporate Exchange Services celebrates its 30^th anniversary in business this month. I’d like to take a moment to tell our story and reflect on the past 30 years.

In 1989, I had just graduated from Chaminade University of Honolulu and went to a temp agency to find a job. I was hired as an escrow assistant at Island Title Company in downtown Honolulu. Island Title had just started a new company that handled 1031 Exchanges. It was here that I first became aware of the existence of 1031s and started to learn about what they were and how they could save taxpayers from paying thousands of dollars in capital gains at their sale by deferring them via a 1031 Exchange.

Fast-forward to 1994. I became a licensed Michigan attorney and was hired as Associate Counsel at Northern Michigan Title Company in Charlevoix. I never forgot about the 1031 Exchange and in January of 1995, I started Northern Michigan 1031 Exchange Company, with my colleague, Deb Bartlett, as my Vice-President. I worked hard to become as much of an expert as I could, joining the Federation of Exchange Accommodators (the only professional association for Qualified Intermediaries) and becoming a Certified Exchange Specialist (CES) over 25 years ago. Today, I am one of only 2 CES designees in Michigan (2 others are retired), with the latest earning her designation a year or so ago.

In 2002, I moved from Northern Michigan Title to Corporate Title Agency nka Corporate Settlement Solutions. The owner of that title company also handled 1031 Exchanges, so we joined forces, and Jerome Jelinek and I became partners in what is now Corporate Exchange Services (“CXS”). CXS has handled forward, reverse, real estate, personal property (no longer allowed), improvement, reverse improvement, combinations of the foregoing, and simultaneous exchanges, throughout the US. And, despite over 30 years of doing this and continual education on 1031s—I still get new scenarios and questions more often than you can imagine.

It's been quite a ride over the past 30 years—CXS survived the market crash of 2008 and the exclusion of personal property from 1031 tax deferral-- both of which, unfortunately, put many Qualified Intermediaries out of business. I want to thank all who have been customers, mentors, colleagues and friends over the past 30 years. And, we look forward providing the excellent service, skill and leadership to which our customers are accustomed, for the foreseeable future.