New England Land Title Association Adopts ALTA®'s 'Principles of Fair Conduct'

July 10, 2008

The New England Land Title Association, representing title companies in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, announced its official adoption of the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) Principles of Fair Conduct. These six states join twenty-nine other states in adopting the Principles, totaling over half of the land in the continental United States.

The Principles of Fair Conduct are a part of ALTA's Title Industry Consumer Initiative — a multi-faceted strategy for improving oversight of the industry and educating and protecting consumers. The five Principles state ALTA’s expectation of its members to:

1) Engage only in business practices that are lawful and consistent with a high standard of ethical behavior.

2) Encourage a culture of compliance within their organizations for federal and state laws that govern the title insurance business.

3) Treat consumers in a fair and ethical manner.

4) Provide consumers with timely and comprehensive information regarding their policies, services, products, and prices to enable them to shop effectively among providers of title-related services.

5) Encourage and assist consumers to be educated purchasers of title insurance and title-related services.

To assist in this effort, ALTA developed a consumer website, www.homeclosing101.org, which provides easy-to-understand information about the closing process and explains the purpose of title insurance including the process of the title search and repairing title defects. The site also describes how consumers can shop and compare prices.



“We commend the New England Title Association for recognizing the importance of these Principles, and for promoting them to its membership,” said ALTA CEO Kurt Pfotenhauer. “The Association will educate its members through newsletters and meetings to help spread the word about the Principles and encourage adoption within their own businesses.”

For more information:

New England Land Title Association: www.nelta.org

Source: New England Land Title Association


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].