ALTA Board Approves 2021 Policy Forms
June 1, 2021
Revisions to the 2021 ALTA Policy Forms collection have been published and went into effect July 30, 2021. Recommended changes were approved by ALTA’s Board of Governors in May, for adoption on July 1, 2021.
The ALTA standard Policy Forms have been formally revised over the years to reflect changes in the marketplace brought about by evolving business practices, expectations of insureds, laws, regulations and legal decisions. Advancements in electronic notarizations, changes in certain consumer and creditor’ rights law, and case law developments were primary drivers leading to the latest revision of the ALTA Loan and Owner’s policies and numerous other ALTA forms.
To prepare for the new forms, attorneys and title companies should participate in training and guidance from their underwriters. Attorney agents will also want to work with their production software providers to ensure that the updates have been made after forms have been appropriately filed and approved by state regulators, and authorized by their underwriters.
For historical perspective, the 1970 policies were revised in 1984, followed by a complete rewrite in 1987. In 1990, the forms were modified again, adding the creditor’s rights exclusion for the first time. A limited modification was made in 1992, followed by a complete rewrite of the base forms in 2006.
Forms may be downloaded at alta.org/policy-forms in the section titled “Recently Adopted Forms - For Public Comment by June 11, 2021 – Not Published.” Comments may be submitted to [email protected].
As always, the forms have been developed by the ALTA Forms Committee and approved by the ALTA Board. An opportunity to review and comment is extended to ALTA members, Policy Forms Licensees and industry customers before final publication. The forms, in general, are made available for customer convenience. The parties are free in each case to agree to different terms and the use of these forms is voluntary unless required by law. The Forms are copyrighted, and use is restricted to ALTA Policy Forms Licensees (including ALTA Members) in good standing as of the date of use. Permission to reprint may be requested by contacting [email protected].
2006 Operative Law Endorsements and Addenda Now Published
Effective April 2, 2021, the following Endorsements and Addenda to clarify the intended operative law for interpretation of the 2006 ALTA Policies have been published:
- ALTA Endorsement 47 Operative Law – 2006 Owner’s Policy
- ALTA Endorsement 47.1 Operative Law – 2006 Loan Policy
- ALTA Endorsement 47.2 Operative Law – 2013 Homeowner’s Policy
- ALTA Endorsement 47.3 Operative Law – 2015 Expanded Coverage Residential Loan Policy
- ALTA Addendum – Operative Law – 2012 Short Form Residential Loan Policy
- ALTA Addendum – Operative Law – 2015 Short Form Residential Loan Policy – Current Violations
- ALTA Addendum – Operative Law – 2015 Short Form Expanded Coverage Residential Loan Policy
These ALTA Forms are available at alta.org/policy-forms, in the “Forms Effective April 2, 2021” section.
These new Endorsements and Addenda have been designed to accompany the 2006 policies while those forms are still in use, where considered appropriate by the issuing title insurer.
Questions or Comments?
If you have comments or concerns, contact Steve Gold, ALTA’s staff representative for the ALTA Forms Committee, at [email protected].
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].