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Like other forms of insurance, title insurance is regulated by individual states, but national policies also affect the title insurance industry. The American Land Title Association’s government affairs department ensures that ALTA's positions are heard by Congress and federal government agencies before they enact legislation and regulations.
July 25, 2011
ALTA Comments on Dodd-Frank's Ability to Repay Rule
On the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank act, we sent a Federal Reserve a five pages of comments on the Fed's ability to repay rule and qualified mortgage (QM) safe harbor. We sent a letter to Bankrate.com outlining the problems with one of their studies concerning the true cost homebuyers actually pay at the closing table. ALTA along with the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors with to congress this week to urge a one-year extension o the current mortgage loan limits set to expire on September 30, 2011. Concerning Robo-signing, ALTA has urged caution and reminded staff that we need more facts before we know if anyone’s property rights have been violated. We are following the Levin Bill on Tax Lien Simplification (s. 1390) and will follow up with them in the coming weeks.
July 18, 2011
ALTA Testified on CFPB Draft Mortgage Disclosures
ALTA President Anne Anastasi testified before the House Financial services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. Full text and video of the hearing is inside. Anne deftly answered a question to reemphasize ALTA's belief that a title insurance search and policy should be a part of the qualified risk retention rule to which former real estate attorney Chairwoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) fully agreed. Thanks to your grassroots efforts we defeated a controversial amendment to privatize flood insurance. Other grassroots efforts are being organized to protest the reintroduction of Rep Kaptur's proposal to ask HUD to study the efficacy of a federal land titling system.
July 11, 2011
Return of the Federal Land Titling Study
A new bill that was introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur that is word for word exactly the same as a bill she introduced last November that will Kill MERS by banning Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae from owning, purchasing or guaranteeing mortgages where MERS is used to track their assignment or listed as the mortgagee of record. Unfortunately she has refused to meet with ALTA representatives. So please call her office to help get her attention.
July 5, 2011
ALTA president to testify before Congressional Committee
ALTA President, Anne Anastasi will testify before the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee on July 13. We also have some more information about changes in the Consumer and Financial Protection Bureau, updates on the Debt Ceiling negations and possible changes to expect from that.
June 27, 2011
The American Land Title Association Supports Efforts to Increase Credit Liquidity
ALTA sent this letter of support for the legislation. Covered bond legislation has been a priority of Scott Garrett, Chairman of the subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises whose committee is the gatekeeper for GSE reform legislation.
ALTA signs letter that applauds the bipartisan efforts of Congressman Scott Garrett and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney to facilitate the creation of a U.S. covered bond market.
ALTA also signed onto a joint letter with MBA, the Realtors and others to discuss the impact covered bonds could have on commercial real estate. The bill H.R. 940 easily passed the Committee by a vote of 44-7 despite opposition from the FDIC
June 22, 2011
American Land Title Association’s Pfotenhauer Comments on Senate
Kurt Pfotenhauer, Chief Executive Officer of the American Land Title Association, released the following comment today following a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The federal program is set to expire Sept. 30, 2011; however, a bill is pending in the U.S. House of Representatives (HR 1309) to reform the program and authorize it for five years. The House has also passed legislation to extend the federal program one year.
June 20, 2011
ALTA Lobbies Against Merkley Amendment on Mortgage Servicing
After receiving word in June 2011 that Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) planned to offer an amendment on the floor of the U.S. Senate that would have made it far more difficult for the title industry to insure REO sales. ALTA approached the Senator to request that he modify his bill to impose strict new mortgage servicing rules. The Senator’s staff asked ALTA to recommend a solution, and ALTA staff is working with the Forms Committee and the Government Affairs Committee on legislative language.
May 20, 2011
American Land Title Association Issues Statement on Initial Prototypes for New Mortgage Disclosure Form
Anne Anastasi, president of the American Land Title Association, issued a statement in response to the Consumer Financial Protection’s (CFPB) initial prototypes of its combined mortgage disclosure form required under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA).
January 18, 2011
ALTA Urges Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRMs) Include Title Insurance Coverage for Lenders and Consumers
On January 18, 2011, ALTA wrote a letter to top federal banking officials on the implementation of Section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. ALTA expressed its views on the characteristics of a Qualified Residential Mortgage as regulations are issued to exempt QRMs from the risk retention requirements of the Act.
January 13, 2011
ALTA Seeks Clarification from FDIC on IOTA Accounts
ALTA wrote a letter to the FDIC on January 13th, 2011, seeking confirmation that the Corporation will continue to recognize that Interest on Trust Accounts are the functional equivalent of Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts and will receive the same unlimited deposit insurance protection provided when President Obama signed HR 6398.
January 11, 2011
ALTA and Joint Trades Warn Against Narrow Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) Definition
On January 18, 2011, ALTA wrote a letter to top federal banking officials on the implementation of Section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. ALTA expressed its views on the characteristics of a Qualified Residential Mortgage as regulations are issued to exempt QRMs from the risk retention requirements of the Act.
November 15, 2010
ALTA Briefs Congressional Staff on the Foreclosure Crisis
In October and November, ALTA staff briefed the Senate Banking Committee, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and the Troubled Assets Relief Program's (TARP) Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) on the impact of foreclosure deficiencies on real property records and the title insurance process.
November 10, 2010
ALTA Supports Improvements to RESPA and TILA Disclosure Forms
ALTA joined several other organizations on November 10th, 2010, in writing to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan concerning their efforts to improve disclosures to mortgage borrowers under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Treasury staff members have begun discussions internally and with stakeholders to combine the two disclosures into a single, integrated disclosure, and ALTA understands that effort will be a first priority of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
October 28, 2010
ALTA Advises Secretary Geithner on the Closing Process
ALTA wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Professor Elizabeth Warren on October 28, 2010, providing recommendations based on ALTA members' experiences in working with consumers when they purchase or refinance their home and encouraging drafters to consider a number of points when they redesign the current GFE and TILA disclosure forms into a single, simple consumer disclosure.
October 15, 2010
ALTA Offers Comments to FHFA on Private Transfer Fee Covenants
On October 15th, 2010, ALTA provided comments to the FHFA on its guidance to the enterprises on the growing use of private transfer fee covenants and their effect on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Bank mortgage purchases, and especially consumers.
September 23, 2010
ALTA Defends Lien Priority of Mortgage Lenders
On September 23rd, 2010, ALTA cosigned a letter with the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and The Real Estate Roundtable directed to the top members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The letter informed the committee of how two new bills could seriously affect residential and commercial real estate markets. These bills would potentially place federally guaranteed debt ahead of all other obligations. Traditionally, the lender has had the primary lien on any property and is first to receive payment in the event of default. Changing this hierarchy could have a harmful effect on the availability of credit.
September 1, 2010
ALTA Advises HUD on Required Use
ALTA supports the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) efforts to strengthen and clarify the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act's (RESPA) "Required Use" prohibition. Consumers and industry stakeholders benefit from a level playing field and we congratulate HUD for studying how to create clearer guidance and enforcement on this subject.
June 16, 2010
ALTA Supports the Extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit
On June 16th, 2010, ALTA authored a letter urging Congress to extend the homebuyer tax credit. The credit is set to expire on June 30th, leaving an estimated 55,000 to 75,000 potential homebuyers unable to close in time. An extension to September 30th would be the fairest course of action for homebuyers who have qualified for the credit and done everything they can only to have a lengthy closing period push them past the deadline.
June 15, 2010
ALTA Supports the Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
In a letter sent to Capitol Hill on June 15, 2010, ALTA joined a coalition of 21 other national trade associations urging congress to immediately reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Five and a half million taxpayers depend on the NFIP as their main source of protection against flooding, the most common natural disaster in the United States. Without flood insurance, no federally-related mortgage loans may be made in nearly 20,000 communities nationwide.
December 14, 2009
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
ALTA opposed an amendment to the House version of HR 4173, the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009," which would have allowed bankruptcy judges to "cram-down" or rewrite the terms of mortgages including the amount owed on a mortgage, change the interest rate, or stretch out the term of the mortgage. ALTA strongly opposed the amendment in the attached letter, which failed to pass the House.
ALTA Supports Pro-Consumer Mortgage Bill
The American Land Title Association announced its support for a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Melissa Bean (D-IL) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) that would bring greater transparency to the mortgage lending process by allowing borrowers more time to review their closing documents.
Commercial Real Estate Letter
October 28, 2009 letter signed by ALTA and other real estate trades to urge the House Financial Services Committee to customize regulatory reform proposals which are aimed largely at the residential/subprime market, but could also impact credit availability in the commercial real estate market, in order to support a recovery in commercial real estate.
Consumer Financial Protection Agency Proposal
On June 17, 2009, the Obama Administration proposed a new regulatory structure for the financial industry, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would draft and enforce regulations under the Real Estate Services Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and any future consumer protection law addressing the consumer credit, savings, collection, or payment markets.
On June 26, 2009, ALTA sent the attached letter in support the Home Buyer Tax Credit Act of 2009, S.1230 and H.R. 1245, on behalf of the nearly 3,000 member companies of the American Land Title Association (ALTA). This legislation is key to stimulating the housing market and our struggling economy.
Read the Press Release
Read ALTA's Letter to Congress
ALTA Board Member Frank Pellegrini testified today at a House Financial Services Subcommittee on “Strengthening Oversight and Preventing Fraud in FHA and other HUD Programs.” Pellegrini, President of Prairie Title in Chicago, IL, told Members of Congress, "title professionals enjoy a unique vantage point from which to observe, identify and thwart instances of fraud. Title agents are the independent third party to the transaction whose only interest is to the integrity of the transaction and the protection of our customers. Through training and experience, we hone our ability to spot improper transactions every day."
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Justin B Ailes VP - Govt & Regulatory Affairs E-Mail: jailes@alta.org Phone: 202-296-3671 Ext. 215 Contact Me About: Federal Legislative and Regulatory Issues, NAIC |
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Steve Gottheim Legislative & Regulatory Counsel E-Mail: sgottheim@alta.org Phone: 202-296-3671 Ext. 230 Contact Me About: Federal Legislative and Regulatory Issues, Legal Issues |
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Jessica McEwen Director of Political Affairs E-Mail: jmcewen@alta.org Phone: 202-296-3671 Ext. 233 Contact Me About: Federal Legislative and Regulatory Issues, TIPAC |
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Madeleine Nagy Director-State Gov't. Affairs E-Mail: mnagy@alta.org Phone: 202-296-3671 Ext. 329 Contact Me About: State Government Affairs Issues |
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