Exhibit (99)

                                          Contact:     Thomas A. Klemens   
                                                       Chief Financial Officer
                                                       (714) 558-3211, ext. 7442

                 FIRST AMERICAN FINANCIAL COMPLETES ACQUISITION
                    OF EXCELIS MORTGAGE LOAN SERVICING SYSTEM

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23, 1996 - The First American Financial Corporation
(NYSE: FAF) announced the completion of the acquisition of the Excelis Mortgage
Loan Servicing System (MLS) from Residential Information Services (RIS), a unit
of Prudential Insurance Company of America. Now known as Excelis, Inc., this
latest business addition further enhances First American's ability to meet the
needs of the mortgage lending community. 

     Excelis joins First American's title insurance, real estate tax service,
flood compliance, credit reporting, property information, home warranty, equity
loan service and records management operations. 

     Regarding the purchase of Excelis, First American Financial President
Parker S. Kennedy stated, "Our bundling of services has reached new and
unprecedented industry levels. We are now the leading provider of real estate-
related services in the country. This position has developed through our
steadfast commitment to providing the highest quality service, in a cost-
effective manner, to all of our customers. This started with our title insurance
operations and has continued for 107 years."

     John Long, president of First American Real Estate Information Services,
Inc., the subsidiary of First American Financial which will oversee the new
unit, believes that customers now using First American's tax service, flood data
and other products will greatly benefit from the efficiencies presented by the
addition of Excelis to our menu of services.

     Excelis MLS is the only commercially available real-time and on-line
servicing system that has been developed since 1990 to meet increasingly
sophisticated market demands. The software employs rules-based technology which
enables the user to customize the system to fit its individual servicing
criteria



and policies. In this way, Excelis MLS eliminates the problems usually
associated with other service bureaus' "one size fits all" approach. The system
manages work flow, minimizes business risks, and improves operational efficiency
by providing mortgage lenders with greater control over their portfolios.

     Although the Excelis system was not operated at a profit by RIS, First
American expects that to change within the next 12 to 18 months. "The initial
costs of merging the Excelis system into First American Real Estate Information
Services could produce marginal losses in that operation during the ramp up of
Excelis, but we expect to see this business become a substantial contributor to
our revenue base over time," said Parker Kennedy. "Furthermore, unlike many of
our other businesses which are directly affected by real estate cycles, we
anticipate that when Excelis is fully integrated into our operations, it will
provide a steady revenue stream from loan servicing contracts even when mortgage
originations are on the decline."

     It was further announced that Mark Brisebois has been named president of
the new Excelis unit. Brisebois, who is also chief information officer for First
American Real Estate Information Services, is responsible for the successful
development and introduction of First American's RAPID system, a sophisticated
electronic service connecting First American's customers with the company's full
range of products and services. Brisebois will be joined on the Excelis
management team by executive vice president Gwen Bennett, formerly senior vice
president of RIS.

     The First American Financial Corporation, based in Santa Ana, California,
is the nation's leading provider of real estate-related financial and
informational services. The corporation's subsidiaries include First American
Title Insurance Company, a national and international title insurer, First
American Real Estate Information Services, Inc., which offers tax monitoring,
credit reporting, flood certification, mortgage loan servicing systems and
property information services nationally, and First American Home Buyers
Protection Corporation, a home warranty company. The corporation also operates
First American Trust Company and First Security Thrift in Southern California.
First American Financial has over 10,000 employees in over 400 branch offices in
the United States and abroad.
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