News + Publications
News + Publications

ALTA’s publications and news center brings the latest information affecting the title and settlement services industry to ALTA members. Whether you are looking for industry news, practical insights on issues affecting title insurance or our suite of legal and regulatory publications we have the news you need.
- TitleNews Magazine
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Advocacy

ALTA represents its members on a national and state level by working closely with members of Congress, state legislatures and regulators to advocate on behalf of the land title industry.
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  TIPAC is the only PAC that directly represents the interest of the title industry in our nation's political system.
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  TAN is the premier grassroots organization promoting the value of the land title insurance industry.
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Events

ALTA, along with affiliated land title associations, organizes dozens of world-class meetings each year. Each event is an opportunity for you to learn from industry experts, meet industry vendors and network with your peers.
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Career + Learning

Since 1971 ALTA has been the source of practical knowledge and skill-based training solutions for the title insurance industry. ALTA is dedicated to providing cutting edge educational solutions to our members through several options.
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Membership

ALTA is committed to your professional development. By becoming a member of ALTA, not only do you strengthen the industry’s future, you gain access to valuable resources to help your company differentiate itself in the market.
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  You will NOT receive member benefits. ALTA is no longer utilizing an occasional use waiver as a part of the Policy Forms Licensing structure for 2024 and going forward. The Policy Forms License for limited use can be acquired for $50.
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  Interested in becoming a member of ALTA? Get answers to some of the questions we are often asked.
Business Ops
Business Ops

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Policies + Standards
Policies + Standards

One of ALTA’s main reasons for existing is to provide the title and settlement industry with industry-specific policy forms and standards that help the industry stay compliant with current regulations.
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About
About

Founded in 1907 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ALTA is the national trade association and voice of title insurance agents, abstracters* and underwriters are Active Members, ranging from small, one-county operations, to large national title insurers in the united states.
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Topics
Topics

In our topics collection, you can stay up to speed on the most relevant issues in our industry—and learn how ALTA is engaged. Visit a topic page to find all the information ALTA has on that subject—from a summary to relevant events, educational resources, consumer and client-facing materials, business resources, and advocacy information.
- Title Waiver Pilot
  The Biden Administration released a plan aimed at lowering housing costs that includes a pilot to waive the requirement for lender’s title insurance on certain refinances. ALTA called the announcement a political gesture offering a false promise of savings for homeowners while exposing consumers, lenders and taxpayers to greater financial risk.
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- Artificial Intelligence
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- Cybersecurity
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- Wire Fraud
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- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
  The proposed rule by U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will require title and settlement companies nationwide to report information about all-cash residential transactions nationwide involving legal entities and trusts.

Industry News

Majesty Title Services Achieves Certification to ALTA Best Practices

July 19, 2016

Summary:

Majesty Title Services LLC announced its re-certification of the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices.

Majesty Title completed the assessment process and attained a pass rating for all seven Pillars included in the compliance benchmarks of ALTA’s Best Practices Certification.

Majesty Title engaged Security Compliance Associates (SCA), an ALTA Elite Provider, to perform the certification for all seven pillars, which included the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Gap Analysis and the Internal / External Systems Vulnerability Assessment for Pillar 3.

“We chose SCA because of their independence and experience in these types of assessments,” said Vincent Cassidy, Majesty Title’s chief executive officer. “In fact, SCA has delivered world-class security assessment services for hundreds of financial institutions and healthcare practices, nationwide. SCA services have exceeded federal compliance requirements for banking regulations and HIPAA compliance mandates.”

Despite a time-consuming process, Cassidy said it is important to demonstrate to lenders and Realtor his company takes protecting consumer non-public information (NPI) very serious. When Majesty Title was first certified in 2014, Cassidy said “reality suggests that all lenders will be requiring assessments and documentation from all of their Title vendors.”

“Since then, not a week goes by where lenders don’t ask for our independent certification,” he added. “Lenders will be asking for more assurances from title agencies that they can comply with industry’s Best Practices. Independent certifications will eventually become the minimum for title agencies to continue to do business with lenders and therefore be compliant.”

Cassidy noted that Bank of America recently indicated in its newsletter that while it “will not require certification at this time, this could change in the future. Settlement agents are encouraged to continue on their best practice certification path.”

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