ALTA to Release Best Practices Representation Letter
September 5, 2017
To better serve the needs of title agents and lenders in sharing information about compliance with the Best Practices, ALTA’s Board of Governors has approved a representation letter that will replace the certification package. Click here to access the certification letter and other resources included in ALTA's Best Practices Framework.
The representation letter, which goes into effect Oct. 13, 2017, provides more information about the type of assessment used to support the letter. This should make it easier for companies to communicate their compliance with the ALTA Best Practices to third parties. It also enhances the use of the ALTA ID as part of the letter’s enhanced basic information requirements.
The representation letter is a fillable letter that incorporates the key aspects of the Certification Package, and more details about the type of assessment the company underwent. The letter is designed to be completed by the company, and can be used with all potential assessment models. This corrects a flaw in the certification package, since most third-party assessors would not utilize the assessment certificate included in that package.
The certification package was used by lenders, such as SunTrust and Iberiabank, as part of their due diligence and onboarding of settlement agents. These lenders used the package because it was a free, standard ALTA product that companies used to perform self assessments.
Additionally, the letter requires companies to provide more basic information, such as the states licensed, full insurances information and their ALTA ID. It also makes the compliance language consistent with the terms used in ALTA’s internal tools, such as the Assessment Readiness Guides, the Compliance Management Report and the Maturity Model.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].