April 25, 2024
In This Issue:
- Texas Title Agent's FinCEN Comments Make National News as FinCEN Considers Troubling New Reporting Requirements
- FTC Bans Noncompete Clauses Nationwide
- How Texas Unleashed a Geothermal Boom
- ICYMI: FinCEN Renews Real Estate Geographic Targeting Order
- FHFA Proposal Would Allow Freddie Mac to Acquire Closed-end Second Mortgages, Which Has the Potential to Unlock $850 Billion in Origination Volume
Texas Title Agents' FinCEN Comments Make National News as FinCEN Considers Troubling New Reporting Requirements
TLTA | April 25, 2024
The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking announced by FinCEN on Feb. 7 ended last week and we're grateful to report that many Texas title professionals responded. In the following article by the Wall Street Journal, former TLTA President Brian Pitman's comment that the proposal would pose an extraordinary cost to title agents was included alongside concerns expressed by others professionals who may be burdened with the proposed new reporting requirements:
Real-Estate Professionals, Investment Advisers Chafe at New Anti-Money-Laundering Rules
by Wall Street Journal
Read the article »
A huge thank you to all who responded to our call to action and took the time to submit your personal comments. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of FinCEN hearing your individual feedback about how this proposal will impact your business and customers. We are very grateful for your engagement in this process.
TLTA Submitted Comments to FinCEN on Behalf of the Texas Title Insurance Industry
Review TLTA's comments »
Background
On Feb. 7 FinCEN issued a
notice of proposed rulemaking on new reporting and compliance requirements that would have a significant impact on you and your business when handling cash transactions.
What Happens Next?
FinCEN will have to analyze all the comments they received and determine how to incorporate them in any final rule they adopt. We do not have an estimated timeline on that process, but rest assured, we’ll keep you informed throughout.
Learn more »
Questions?
If you have questions, please send them to
Aaron Day or call Aaron at 512.810.8800, thank you.
FTC Bans Noncompete Clauses Nationwide
HousingWire | April 23, 2024
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Tuesday a decision to ban noncompetes nationwide, aiming to stop the practice of preventing a worker from immediately joining a rival company.
The rule is designed to “[protect] the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation,” the FTC said in its announcement of the rule.
Learn More »
TLTA Editor's Note: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are suing to block implementation of this FTC decision.
How Texas Unleashed a Geothermal Boom
The Hill | April 20, 2024
With its nation-leading renewables fleet and oil and gas industry, Texas is poised to dominate what boosters hope will be America’s next great energy boom: a push to tap the heat of the subterranean earth for electricity and industry.
That technology, known as geothermal energy, has demonstrated the rare ability to unite the state’s warring political camps — and is fueling a boom in startups that seek to take it national.
While other forms of renewable energy lost ground during Texas’s 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions before a Legislature that combined a hard-right political bent with a focus on building more “dispatchable” power, the geothermal industry advanced. State lawmakers passed four key bills in 2023 that helped lay the foundation for a new generation of drilling — with just one vote against.
Read More »
TLTA Editor's Note: TLTA worked with the author of SB 785, among the bills referenced in this article, to amend the language to include a statutory right to take a general exception for geothermal energy in the title policy.
ICYMI: FinCEN Renews Real Estate Geographic Targeting Orders
U.S. Treasury | April 17, 2024
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced the renewal of its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in non-financed purchases of residential real estate. The terms of the GTOs are effective beginning April 19, 2024, and ending on October 15, 2024.
The following Texas counties continue to be included in GTO:
Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Montgomery, Tarrant, Travis, Webb
Learn More »
FHFA Proposal Would Allow Freddie Mac to Acquire Closed-end Second Mortgages, Which Has the Potential to Unlock $850 Billion in Origination Volume
HousingWire | April 19, 2024
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a new product proposal for government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac that would allow the agency to purchase certain single-family, closed-end second mortgages.
This would offer borrowers an alternative way to access their home equity without surrendering a first mortgage with a more favorable interest rate than is currently available.
The proposal, published in the Federal Register, recognizes that existing borrowers “face limited options” if they seek to access equity on their primary residence, particularly if they have a mortgage rate from a loan originated during the low-rate environment of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read More »
Read FHFA's Announcement »
Analysis From BOA re: What This Could Mean for Originations »