March 12, 2014

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Wells Fargo Endorses ALTA's Best Practices Guidelines

DSNews | March 7, 2014
Wells Fargo announced its support of the American Land Title Association's (ALTA) Best Practices in its Settlement Agent Communications issued March 6, 2014. The lender said the Best Practice guidelines for sound business practices should ideally already be in place for businesses providing title and closing services for its customers. Read More »

Important Agent Licensing Updates

Firm ID and Individual ID Are Now the Key Numbers for TDI Communications
As a result of TDI issuing new agent and escrow officer license numbers and Firm ID numbers, TLTA and TDI have received several questions about when to use the License number and when to use the Firm ID number (replaced company ID).

For example, the question has been presented as to which number should be used on form T-00. The answer for this and most any other communication with TDI is the Firm ID. This is your new unique identifier number.

The same is true for the new escrow officer Personal ID Number, which should be used with continuing education credits and license renewals.

TDI's new licensing system and resulting protocols are now utilizing the Firm ID and Individual ID for all internal tracking, processing and record keeping.

Licensing and Minimum Capitalization — Requirements Not in Place Until July
We've also received clarification from TDI that agents seeking to be licensed do not need to submit their minimum capitalization evidence until July 3.

Both the renewal form and the new agent license form have this language:

Beginning July 3, 2014, all title agencies must comply with the minimum capitalization requirements in Administrative Rule S-1. Submit the latest copy of the title agency's form TS-1, T-S2, or other evidence showing how the title agency meets the minimum capitalization requirements.

Although one could read the second sentence to mean that an agent must submit evidence now, TDI has assured us that that is not the intent.

More to Come
The new TDI computer system for licensing, new rules, resource constraints, as well as an increase in demand have all converged to create delays and some confusion regarding all aspects of agent and escrow officer licensing. TLTA is working closly with TDI on all the licensing related questions that we have been gathering for several weeks now. TDI staff is putting together some guidance and feedback which we hope will prove helpful in addressing your questions. Stay tuned for more updates from us in the near future.

Home Equity Loans - Plan Your Strategy Before Filing That Proof of Claim

By Perry Cockrell | Cantey Hanger LLP
Banks, creditor’s and lienholders with home equity mortgages must be careful when handling their secured claims after their borrowers file for bankruptcy. Texas home equity loans are designed to be non-recourse except in the case of fraud. Filing a proof of claim in a bankruptcy case when the debtor is not personally liable on the debt is an attempt to collect that debt from the estate when the estate is not responsible. Read More »

Senate Leaders Seek to Pass House Flood Insurance Bill

Bloomberg | March 10, 2014
Senate leaders are seeking agreement to quickly pass a House flood-insurance bill to avert steep premium increases for property owners in coastal states such as Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey, Senate aides said. The House passed the measure, H.R. 3370, on a 306-91 vote March 4. It would limit increases to 15 percent of the average rate in a particular flood zone or 18 percent for each individual policy. Read More »

Register for These Upcoming Hot Topic Webinars!

Construction Transactions and Insurability Issues
Thursday, March 13 | 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Presented by:
John C DeLoach, Chief Underwriting Officer, Sierra Title Company, San Antonio
Live Version | On-Demand Version

Probate and Entity Issues: What You Need to Close
Wednesday, March 19 | 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Presented by:
Mark Peña, Attorney at Law, Lewis, Monroe & Peña, Edinburg
Live Version | On-Demand Version

What Texas Title Agents Need to Know About the New CFPB Closing Disclosure Rule
Tuesday, April 22, 2014 | 2 - 3:30 p.m.
Presented by:
Celia C. Flowers, Attorney, Flowers Davis, PLLC and East Texas Title Companies
Janet S. Minke, CTIA, Vice-President, Underwriting Support Services, Alliant National Title Insurance Company
Leslie Wyatt, Director of Industry Relations, SoftPro
Live Version | On-Demand Version