Tell Congress "No" on H.R. 1077!

This is taken from the Linkedin Group: National Association of Independent Land Title Agents.  It was posted there by Robert Holman on 6/6

Several weeks ago, we let you know about a potentially harmful bill known as H.R. 1077, the Consumer Mortgage Choice Act, that currently resides in the House Financial Services Committee for further consideration. The bill is an attempt to give affiliated business arrangements and their title insurance partners an exemption from Dodd Frank requirements that count affiliate charges as part of the 3% cap on points and fees.

Congress understood that affiliate service providers such as AfBAs and CBAs are fundamentally different than your businesses. They also understood that affiliate providers eliminate important checks and balances on the title insurance process and limit the amount of meaningful choice provided to a consumer. With the introduction of H.R. 1077 by the banking lobby, we are going to have to re-convince Congress of why the dichotomy between affiliate providers and independent providers matters.

NAILTA is the only national title insurance trade organization to state a public position in support of independent title insurance agents. In light of this fact, it is very important that you join our efforts and have your voice heard!

For more information on our opposition to this bill, please visit our website at www.nailta.org.

We need you to contact your member of Congress and tell them that independent land title agents do not support H.R. 1077 or S.949 which would give lenders and their affiliates carte blanche control over the selection of settlement service provider and remove a consumer’s right to choice.

Members have already graciously taken to the task of sending emails, telephoning Congress and faxing the prepared letters to their Representative. The effort has been strong, but we continue to need your help!

To find out how you can help in contacting members of Congress, please contact us at info@nailta.org.

The power to change minds in Washington, D.C. is in your capable hands. We urge you to take a few minutes over the next couple of days to help voice your stand against H.R. 1077 and for consumers and small businesses across the United States.

Posted By Robert Holman

Tell Congress "No" on H.R. 1077!

NAILTA Announces Opposition to "MERS 2" Proposal

The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents (NAILTA) has announced that it is opposed to a provision in legislation offered by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) that would create "MERS 2", a federal mortgage registry modeled after and designed to replace the existing bank-owned MERS mortgage registry.

In its position paper on the Corker bill, Senate Bill 1834, NAILTA says that it "is opposed to any reconstituted MERS system because the MERS model is a deeply flawed system that continues to harm consumers, small business owners, and county governments across the United States."

According to NAILTA, "[A]ny consideration of creating a new MERS without having successfully resolved the well-known flaws and inadequacies of the previous MERS system is a foolhardy exercise. S.B. 1834 proposes no solution to the prevalent flaws with the current MERS system. Instead, it merely seeks to establish MERS 2.0 based upon the MERS in use on the date of enactment."  One of those purported flaws in MERS is that it "fails to reconcile 50 states worth
of mortgage recording and foreclosure law."

NAILTA claims that MERS, a system "built by the mortgage industry, for the mortgage industry" according to its founders, has harmed the land title industry in particular by shifting the business of title insurance away from title professionals and toward banks. NAILTA says that MERS has also damaged land title records and deprived local governments of fees used for general purposes such as public safety.

NAILTA characterizes MERS 2 as a Federal Torrens title system-- subject to the considerable expense and difficulty of reconciling states' differing recording and foreclosure laws into one system.  MERS failed because of the same pitfall, and consumers, county governments, and title agents have borne this expense while only the owners of MERS have benefited, according to NAILTA.

NAILTA has contacted Senator Corker's office and requested a meeting with the Senator, to express its "deep reservations and opposition concerning MERS and the specific problem we have with [the MERS 2] provision."

via sourceoftitle.com

Title Insurance Industry Free Classifieds
New Jersey Title Insurance Linkedin Group

Registration Open for NAILTA National Conference in April

The National Association of Land Title Agents (NAILTA) is accepting registrations for its annual conference to be held from Sunday April 10th to Tuesday April 12th at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.

Among the scheduled speakers are University of Utah Law Professor Christopher L. Peterson, a prominent critic of MERS who has conducted extensive legal research on MERS and testified before Congress on the foreclosure crisis and the problems posed by MERS in foreclosure. 

The keynote speaker will be Richard Gordon, a Maryland lawyer who is heavily involved in active RESPA Section 8 class action litigation and has taken on numerous alleged sham affiliated business arrangements.  Also scheduled to speak is Brett Woodburn, Associate Counsel for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, who will be speaking on the business outlook for title insurance and real estate from the perspective of outside settlement providers.  NAILTA President Charles W. Proctor III will give a "state of the independent title agent" address during opening remarks.

Two continuing education classes are scheduled to take place during the event.  A three hour mortgage fraud seminar featuring members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, independent title agents, and regional title underwriters will be held (CE credit for this seminar is pending approval in the states of NJ, NY, PA, OH, IN, MD, and VA).  Also there will be a one hour ethics seminar sponsored by General Title Insurance Company concerning the ethics of title insurance and title insurance agents (CE credit is pending approval in the states of NJ, PA, OH, IN and MD).

The conference is scheduled to include several breakout sessions, including "The Personality of Selling" led by Dave Dwyer, New Jersey Title Insurance Company;  "Regional Title Insurance Underwriters Q&A Session" with the New Jersey Title Insurance Company, General Title Insurance Company, Security Title & Guarantee of Baltimore, and several more; and "Making a Profitable Title Agency" led by Harvey Pollack, Land Title Services, Inc., Wauwatosa, WI.

Special events are scheduled to include an opening reception on Sunday, April 10, 2011 at the Pisces Rooftop, 15th floor (overlooking Baltimore Harbor) with live music from 7 PM until 10 PM; a free lunch at the Harborview Room of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Monday, April 11, 2011; and a VIP Tour of Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 2:30 PM on Monday, April, 11, 2011.

Attendees can begin checking in after 2 PM on Sunday, April 10th.  The conference opens with the reception at 7 PM later that day, and scheduled activities run from 8 AM to 4 PM Monday and 8 AM to 12:30 PM Tuesday.

Registration for the event is scheduled to continue until April 3rd.  The registration fee for the event is $225, discounted to $175 for registrations received before February 14th. An additional fee of $50 applies to the continuing education classes.  For more information, visit the NAILTA website or view the current agenda, view other event details, and register here.  For additional information on the venue, visit the website of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore.

via sourceoftitle.com

Title Insurance Industry Free Classifieds
New Jersey Title Insurance Linkedin Group