White Papers

The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents has released a white paper advocating the use of a premium-to-surplus ratio rule to help prevent escrow theft. The white paper was written in light of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ efforts to draft a white paper to give regulators and insurers tools to combat and prevent escrow theft.

Before meeting to discuss the issue further, the Title Insurance Guaranty Fund Working Group chairs sent a memo to its members regarding research NAIC staff had conducted to help determine whether the group should pursue model ittle insurance guaranty fund legislation.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking public feedback on its plan to craft a new infrastructure for the secondary mortgage market. The proposed framework, released as a white paper, includes the creation of a common securitization platform and a model pooling and servicing agreement. The goal is to have an infrastructure that is consistent with housing finance reform.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Title Task Force has been working on a white paper to guide regulators and industry members in addressing escrow theft. They shared the first version on Sept. 20.

The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents released a white paper outlining its concern with the third-party vetting companies popping up across the country, as well as providing its own solution to the lenders’ dilemma of how to prove title agents have proper policies and procedures in place.

After releasing a position paper earlier this month clarifying its desire that consumers choose the company that provides title insurance, the Colorado Division of Real Estate released a consumer fact sheet to guide consumers in the process.

As required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its semi-annual report for the first half of 2012.

Demotech Inc. has published its study, Escrow Theft: Today’s Challenge in Title Insurance. This study observes the relationship between title insurance loss and loss adjustment expense ratios and the relative strength of state regulations for title insurance agents.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has released a targeted study analyzing reports indicating suspicious activities involving the title and escrow industry. It identified thousands of instances of reports of suspicious activity involving title and escrow companies.

The Board of Directors of the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) has approved for publication the group’s most recent whitepaper, “Access to and Sales in Bulk of Land Records.” This long-awaited whitepaper has been developing over the past four years with launch of the initial discussions dating back to spring of 2008.