our founder

robert leo french

robert leo french

The story of our parent company, Mother Lode Holding Company, started in 1973. That’s when the late Leo French established Placer Title in California. His mission was to put together a team “who really cared about each other” and, in turn, cared about the customers they helped every day.

If this was accomplished, Leo believed success would follow. To this day, he continues to be correct in that assessment. Starting with five employees he treated like family in two offices, Placer Title Company has grown throughout Northern and Central California and beyond, thanks to the other companies that make up MLHC, including National Closing Services.

We are happy to be part of this success story. It’s where our belief of a “have it your way” attitude and our love for customer service originates. Leo’s “Main Street” approach to the business, plus the passion for people, and the communities he served, meant that his company was always committed to the highest level of customer service possible, and we take pride in carrying out his legacy.

Leo’s fingerprints are still all over the company today. He was a wonderful communicator who was famous for his handwritten letters and notes filled with humor, wisdom, and rhymes. He and his wife, Eileen, loved to tap dance and led the MLHC team of dancers, performing at company events with colleagues who shared their love of dance. The couple’s enthusiasm and joy was contagious.

Eileen died in 2010, and Leo passed away in 2013, the same year he retired. But their caring spirit and Leo’s vision of creating a company based on caring for people will live on for years to come through all the work we do here at NCS and throughout the Mother Lode family.